Girl Meets Forgiveness and Onward
by disneynina
Summary: When Kermit abruptly shows up for the forgiveness project, her world tilted on its axis. Maya doesn't know who to go to advice for her dad, but when she finds out that she and Huckleberry have a lot of things in common, they start to grow closer together. The sparks between them are slowly burning into a fire, but how will this affect everyone in the group? Especially Riley?
1. Chapter 1

"Maya"

"Maya!"

"MAYA"

"What?" Maya snapped out of her stupor and slammed her locker shut.

"What did your dad say?" Riley blinked at her best friend with those curious doe eyes.

Maya sighed and pushed her hair back, "Nothing, I haven't heard back from him yet. I don't even know if he even got the letter."

Riley rubbed her shoulder and smiled to cheer her up, "I'm sure he got it Peaches, I think you should give him some time to respond."

"Riley, I'm not sure about that. How can he respond to an angry, tear-filled letter that he just got from his daughter who he's never seen in 10 years?"

Maya knew her friend was about to shoot her an apologetic look and offer her pity before she could even open her mouth.

"And don't feel sorry for me, I'm not expecting anything back from him; I just kinda did it for myself," Maya said with confidence, pointing out that she understood Mr. Matthew's lesson.

Riley rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a red envelope. "For you, Peaches."

Her hopeful gaze burned through Maya's head expectantly, unwavering from Maya's confused expression. "Wait, what did I do?" Maya asked worriedly, looking at the letter she was clutching like it was on fire.

Riley glared, "Don't think the worst until you've read it, now take it!" Maya snatched it out of her hand.

"Riley I'm sorry! Please don't make me read this." Maya was afraid of what was in the letter, she was a screw-up. Throughout her whole life, all she did was let people down, but she promised herself to never mess up things with Riley. And now she even broke one of her promises.

"Maya, I will always love you. But this is important to me and I want you to read it," Maya sighed in defeat.

"Okay, okay..." she even made a point by sticking it into her art folder. Riley smiled in approval.

"And you're not allowed to read it until mom and dad are cleaning up from dinner." Wait Riley wanted her to read it tonight? At the bay window? This could not be good.

"That is if I'm coming for dinner right?" Riley scoffed when Maya tried to challenge her.

"Honey you eat everything in our fridge and practically have your own key to our place."

Maya's shoulders slumped when Riley figured out what she was trying to do. "nice try Peaches, but you're coming tonight."

"I hate that you know me so well." The bell rang and Maya linked arms with Riley as they went to class.

* * *

After school, Lucas saw Maya come out of her art class with her arms and face covered in pastel dust and head towards her locker to finish packing up for the day and head to Riley's place. He smirked when she rubbed her eyes with her hands to chase away the fatigue and got blue and green hues all over her eyelids.

"Nice eyeshadow you got there," Maya froze when she heard him tease her. Her heart started thumping and she quickly spun the combination on the dial. She peered at the small mirror in the back of her locker and gasped. Of course he has to catch her at these moments, it bothered her to no end!

Lucas grabbed a towel from his duffel bag and threw it at her face, she scowled at him and rushed to wipe all the evidence of her art project away.

"Ew, is this _your_ towel?" Maya paused. Lucas' eyebrows rose at her disgusted tone.

"Yeah, that's why I handed it to you."

"No, what I meant was, isn't this the towel you use for baseball practice where you keep all your sweat? Gross, I think I've got your Cowboy germs."

She whipped the towel at his stomach but he grabbed it. Lucas chuckled and shoved it back into his bag. "You're welcome."

"I hope in an hour or two I won't suddenly have an urge to square dance," Maya shuddered.

Lucas rolled his eyes and stepped closer to her just to grate on her nerves. "So you wanna grab a smoothie real quick before I drop you off at Riley's?"

"You don't have to take the subway with me, just go home, aren't you tired from practice?"

"Nah, I don't mind, I'm in a better mood today since coach let us all out early. My treat."

"Well how can I resist another opportunity to pour smoothie all over your head again for free?" Maya wiggled her eyebrows and they both laughed, remembering how awkward their date was a week ago.

* * *

"So how's your forgiveness project going?" Lucas sat down in their respective chairs and sipped his raspberry smoothie from his straw. Maya sighed and twiddled the straw between her fingers, not knowing if she should be honest with him or not.

"I don't know, it's...going."

"Care to elaborate on it? Or do I have to tell you that story where I helped a horse give birth again?" Maya's eyes twinkled with mischief.

"Hold your proverbial horses there Huckleberry, I'm getting to it."

He patiently waited for her to gather her words together and folded his hands in his lap.

"When I mean it's going, I mean nothing's happened yet. My dad didn't let me know if he got the letter or not and I'm fine with not getting a response back. I mean it was hard for me to send that letter, I don't really want to know his reaction to be honest. I'm just not ready to hear his side of the story. I'm not ready to hear why my mom and I weren't good enough for him."

"Did you ever think to yourself that maybe it was because _he_ wasn't good enough for you? And that he wasn't capable of handling the responsiblities?"

"There is no way in this world where _that's true_ Huckleberry, I can guarantee you that."

Lucas' eyebrow rose a fraction when he realized how confident she was that she's isn't good enough for her dad.

"No Maya, I think you're wrong," Maya's expression grew irritated. He noticed her clenching her teeth and squeezing the life out of the cup, willing it to shatter.

"You don't know anything about me or my situation Huckleberry, so take it back."

"No!" Lucas' ire rose, "Why is it that whenever I come to your defense or try to let you see reason, you immediately draw back and bite my head off for it?"

"Because I don't need to hear what you have to say! You're a Huckleberry and a Ranger Rick," Lucas ignored her jab.

"I'm going to say my piece whether you like it or not but you're too good for your father. You think that you're not good enough for anyone, but that's where you're wrong. You want to know the truth, Maya? You have no regard for your self worth. You act as if you're going to end up dissapointing everyone, when you only dissapoint people when you don't try."

"You don't know anything about me Lucas," Maya repeated.

"Well then how do I know that you listen to the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack while you paint? Or that you hate it when the mayo is on the bread and not in between the double layers of ham and turkey? Or that your favorite band is Arctic Monkeys, but you're guilty pleasure is Taylor Swift? Or that you care for your friends more than you let on?"

"Because you're a creep?" Maya suggested quietly after an abrupt silence, shocked that he paid attention to her these past few months. Lucas' neck burned with embarrassment but he kept his gaze on her.

"I know how you feel because I used to think like that too." Maya snapped her eyes towards him and blushed from the intensity of his gaze. This got Maya's attention, she put down her glass and shifted towards him, copying his position.

"What do you mean?" Lucas scratched his head.

"I used to be angry with my dad and felt like I wasn't good enough for him, and in some ways I still have those insecurities today. When my parents got a divorce, I had to come to New York with my mom and leave Texas and my dad behind. At one point he wanted me to choose, him or New York. I told him I found a new family here and that I couldn't leave you guys and he didn't take the rejection quite lightly."

Lucas looked down when Maya gave him a soft smile. "He didn't talk to me for months, told me I couldn't visit him on Thanksgiving or Christmas anymore. I had a hard time adjusting to his rejection but he dealt with it like the whole thing wasn't a big deal. I realized later that he just wanted to keep in contact with me to get my mom riled up."

"Anyways, he just sends up money to keep up with his half of the deal and doesn't care how mom's doing. Even though it was rough, you guys helped me realize that I didn't need his negativity in my life; I'm better off without him. You guys told me the same thing I'm trying to tell you: I deserve better. And so do you, Maya. And that doesn't make you selfish or arrogant at all."

Lucas placed his hand over hers and squeezed them gently.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't really keep your mind off of it during History the other day when you read your letter aloud. But I think you're really brave for sending what you wrote. Because even if you don't forgive him now, someday you will." Maya recalled back to that day where he just gave her shoulder a tight yet reassuring squeeze. It didn't do much to shake her nervousness, but it did soothe her for a bit. And she realized that she didn't want him to let go of her shoulder until she saw the look on Riley's face.

"Then why didn't you write a letter to your father or contact him for the forgiveness project?" She met his eyes and her gaze softened when his lips quirked up in a half smile.

"Because unlike you, I'm not ready." Maya didn't press further, thinking that was enough today for heavy subjects.

"You're not really mad at Farkle for spoiling the end of movies, are you?" Maya stared at their conjoined hands.

"Nah, I just wanted to give him a hard time. But it is annoying."

"Thank you, Lucas, for telling me about your dad. I still don't know where you get this idea in your head that I'm not the problem, but I'll take it for now. I just hope that when he tells me, I'll be ready to forgive myself."

They stayed like that for a couple of minutes, enveloped in silence, but unlike their first couple of dates, they embraced each other's presence and kept smiling at each other. There was no awkwardness this time while they still grasped each other's hands forgetting that her mom, Katy and Topanga were smiling at them from their stools.

* * *

 **Hey guys! Please tell me what you guys think, this is my first story on here and I finally had the guts to publish this online, so please go easy on me, thank you :)**


	2. Chapter 2

_Ping!_

 **I need you to come over now Bucky McBoingBoing**

Lucas quickly read her text and felt panic wash over him.

 **Lucas: What's wrong shortstack?**

 **Maya: My dad's here.**

Lucas didn't waste anymore time by asking questions, he gathered up all of his stuff in the locker room and shoved it in his duffel. He zipped out of the room with his teammates hollering at him and asking him where he was going.

"Woah, slow down there Lucas, you haven't even showered yet, what's wrong?" Zay blocked Lucas from his path. Lucas grew more and more agitated the longer he was standing there. Anxiety filled him up as his thoughts were going haywire, wondering why Maya would possibly reach out to him out of all people.

"Maya. She needs me," Lucas panted in breaths. Zay's expression grew from concerned to a mischievous all knowing smirk. Zay punched his buddy in the shoulder, giving him a wink.

"Go comfort your girlfriend, I won't stop you," Lucas grit his teeth in annoyance, shooting him a death glare that would turn a man cold; this however only made Zay more amused.

Zay stepped aside, "She's not my girlfriend for the last time!" Lucas knew his excuses were fruitless, he knew Zay wasn't going to give up on the chance to tease him.

"Whatever, I'm wasting my breath with you," Lucas called out over his shoulder. He swung the doors upon racing his way towards Maya.

Lucas was sweating all over again, rushing to get to Maya's apartment. He got a lot of dirty looks from people on the subway whenever he rubbed shoulders with them or pushed them aside to get there a little faster.

He finally slowed down his pace when he got to her floor. He saw her through the gleam of the glass, pacing her bedroom like a bunny stuck in its cage. He knocked on her window loudly to get her attention when she jumped and turned around. She slid it open for him and resumed her pacing.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, what am I going to do?" Maya muttered under her breath.

Lucas hefted up his backpack and his duffel and dropped it on her floor with a thud. She spun around and looked at him for a moment, giving him a curious look.

"You're panting and you're sweating."

"Yeah thanks for noticing, I tried to get here as soon as I saw your text." Maya took one of her water bottles off her nightstand and threw it at him, which he caught without blinking. He shot her a grateful look and chugged the water like he hadn't had a sip of it for years.

"Shit, I forgot your basketball practice doesn't let out until 4."

"Baseball, Maya. And that's fine, we just finished, I just didn't have time to take a shower or put on clean clothes." She ignored him and continued walking around aimlessly stepping on her homework and forgotten sketches.

"So is he here?" Lucas asked.

"Yes of course he's here, I just texted you that."

"I know but is he here, _here_?" Maya shook her head.

"No, he came to Topanga's and I freaked out and words started pouring out of my mouth and I ran away like a coward." Maya's mouth was running a mile a minute; she was in absolute freak out mode because her dad just decided to show up out of the blue. Maya collapsed on her bed and groaned.

"I'm such an idiot, I thought he wouldn't respond, let alone come and talk to me. I prepared myself for more than ten years for when this conversation would happen. I had a monologue all figured out, but I couldn't follow it. I absolutely lost my cool and basically called him a jerk for ditching me."

Lucas joined her on her bed and placed his hand over her knee. "Hey you couldn't possibly know what was going to happen. Did he at least tell you what you needed to hear?"

"About why he stepped out all those years ago? No. I didn't even give him the chance to explain why he was here," Maya closed her eyes in frustration.

"I know it's going to be hard, Maya. But I think you should at least let him explain himself for a couple of minutes."

"But I don't want to hear it! I'm scared of what he's going to say so I lashed out to protect myself. Why am I so weak?" Maya asked no one in particular but forgot she was sitting next to Moral Compass.

"You're not weak or a coward Maya. It was just your reaction to seeing him without notice and it was your first instinct to get the hell away from there. But he was the one who walked out all those years ago, not you, so don't give yourself a hard time walking away for a couple of hours."

"You're not helping Moral Compass. Why can't you just tell me to buy a one way ticket to Canada?" Maya grabbed her pillow and plopped it on top of her face to muffle her yelling.

"Because for some reason you chose to talk to me and not Riley."

"I know I can't believe it myself." Lucas had to lean down a little to hear her from the pillow.

"But why me? Does Riley at least know about this?"

"She was there at Topanga's when he came out of nowhere. In fact, he basically sauntered in there like he owned the place. The nerve. But I've been hiding here without returning Riley's calls and texts, because I need a moment to wrap my head around this."

"And the best solution is to get me here?" Lucas slowly laid on her bed, carefully pushing away all of her sketches to the side. She turned to him and they held each other's gazes for a long minute before she blushed.

"Well I just couldn't face Riley either, no matter how much I love her, she just won't get it. She's too happy to understand this screwed up situation. She's got the most loving family in the world who was there for her since she was born. All I have is a flaky dad named after a dancing frog and a half-mom who spends all her time working between shifts so we can have a roof over our head."

"I get that Maya, but why am I here?" Maya shrugged and sheepishly looked at him.

"You told me you understand how I felt." Lucas looked at her hopingly, elated by the fact that they were finally bonding over something and she was slowly letter him in. He smiled at her, letting her know that he was happy that she could trust him.

He didn't say anything when she paused, "I just remember our conversation we had at Topanga's a few days back and I can't stop thinking about it. I just didn't realize that we kind of had that in common."

"What? A shitty home life?" Lucas scoffed and Maya grunted in agreement.

"You couldn't be any more right there, Huckleberry," Maya's breathing slowed down and she finally looked calm.

"What the hell am I going to say to him tonight?"

"You're meeting him again tonight?"

"Yeah, mom told me he wanted to talk to me over dinner, she thought it was best if it was at our place so she can supervise and maybe yell at him some more without strangers staring at us."

"Oh you're mom was there too?"

"And Topanga. Of course everyone was there to witness one of my weakest moments."

Again with the negativity, Lucas rolled his eyes.

"Please stop saying that. How else were you supposed to react? Clap and hug the guy for leaving?" Maya sat up abruptly.

"You're not making any sense Lucas. First you say that I should try to hear him out and forgive him, then you say he deserved my reaction because he wasn't a good father. What are you playing at here?" Maya grew irritated upon her revelation. Lucas sat up too, realizing how hypocritical he might've came off as.

"Maya, that's not what I meant. I have your best interests at heart and I hate to see you like this but I know you need a shot at forgiving your dad, because if you don't then you wouldn't forgive yourself. Because forgiving yourself is one of the most important things that can lead to happiness. And I'm not being a sap, I know."

"As for my back-handed comments towards your dad, I'm sorry if I'm reinforcing your dislike for your him but you deserve better, and I get upset as well at the person who makes you upset. But since I'm your friend as well, I can't tell you to not forgive your dad because that won't make you happy. And I want you to be happy."

Those words resonated in Maya and her body was frozen in place as she recalled those exact same words spilled from his lips. She remembered when the school almost pulled the plug on her art classes a couple of months ago, he surprised her and everyone for saying that he wanted her to be happy.

She felt the rush of warmth as she realized how deep her feelings were transforming for Lucas. Shit she was caught way too far and now she doesn't know if she can go back. She just might drown in those eyes whenever he looked her way.

That was when Lucas realized how close they were sitting next to each other, on her bed.

"Lucas I...Thank you," she stopped and looked away, figuring now was the time to shut up before she confessed how much she wanted to pounce him. She couldn't help it, she wasn't used to anyone being concerned for her or wanting her to be happy. At that moment she realized that Lucas was really good at distracting her, she would be tearing her hair out if he weren't here dispelling her fears and insecurities away.

She glanced at his lips subconsciously and snapped her eyes back at his once she realized what she was doing. She pulled away from his magnetic energy and pointed towards her bathroom.

"You can take a shower in my bathroom and change if you want, I'm going to start getting ready for the worst meal of my life," she said with fake cheeriness.

Lucas' confused expression melted into a smile, "You sure?" He asked hopefully.

"Yeah go ahead Ranger Rick, before I change my mind."

Lucas grabbed his bags and she motioned to him where the bathroom was. He shot her a quick smile before he closed the door behind him. Maya drew in a shaky breath and slowly sat back down on her bed, her gaze burning towards the bathroom where she last caught his lingering look. She felt her forehead and sat there in confusion when she realized she wasn't sick or imagining this at all.

Something was slowly happening between them.

She didn't know whether it was because of how much more time they were spending with each other or the fact that she was opening up to him about her personal life. But she was feeling things shift every time they talked or even looked at each other.

All she knew was that she didn't text him to come over on a whim. She trusted him and she was afraid her feelings would change this newfound friendship and affect things with Riley. She already felt guilty for thinking of Lucas first when she needed help and not Riley. She hated having feelings for Lucas, but she also hated that she couldn't act upon them.

She glanced at the photo on her nightstand of her and Riley hugging each other tightly, never wanting to let go. But now she couldn't help but think they were slowly letting each other go from the other's grasp and she couldn't figure out why Riley's been out of it lately.

And the red envelope she gave her a couple of days ago? She still hadn't opened it because she was afraid of looking inside. After dinner that day, Topanga had to work at her cafe because one of her employees called out at the last minute. Riley decided to go with her mom to lend her an extra hand while Maya just ended up staying with Cory and Auggie for dessert and then headed home.

Riley seemed to forget that Maya had her letter and Maya didn't bother to remind her. Yeah, she was a shitty friend, but Maya's been running for her entire life and her gut is telling her to prolong the subject just a little longer. She was afraid that Riley would call her out on being a selfish friend for liking Lucas or something. She just couldn't handle facing another rejection, from Riley or from Lucas.

Although Lucas never let her know what his feelings were to her since Texas, she didn't want to hear that he still had lingering feelings for Riley because she knows it'll shatter what's left of her heart. So she decided she wouldn't let anything further happen between her and Lucas, for everyone's sake. Hopefully she can still be friends with Lucas and have her Riley back.

Then she thought about what was going to happen tonight with her dad and it hit her like a ton of bricks. Her dad, Lucas, and Riley?

How fucked up is her life?

* * *

 **Ah wasn't that a lovely Lucaya moment? I went back and fixed some of the grammatical/spelling errors in the last couple of chapters because it was just so embarassing. I'm a college student! I should pay more attention when I proofread.**

 **I realized how insecure I am about the first chapter, I don't know if I captured the moment correctly or if I got my message across. But I'm going to put way more thought and detail to the next chapters, it'll be longer, you'll see ;)**

 **Please review and favorite/follow me, because there will definitely be more drama and I'm excited!**


	3. Chapter 3

**So I realized after posting my story I should've had a disclaimer, so here it is:**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World but if I did I would make Lucaya happen faster.**

 **I'd like to thank everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed this story in a couple of days! Wow! You guys are awesome :)**

 **Guys I didn't realize how angsty this story got, but please bear with me, I realized I kind of wanted this story to go a little deeper than the episodes. Even though I thought the writers always do a good job portraying their characters, but unfortuneately they can only scratch the surface of every lesson or theme because they only have about 30 minutes on Disney Channel. But anyways, alas here is the update, enjoy lovelies!**

* * *

Maya tugged on the ends of her outfit while she scrutinized herself through the mirror. She was dressed like she was going to a dance, yet she didn't know why she went all out with the red dress Shawn had bought her so long ago. It was her first time wearing it because Shawn said it was specifically a "family dinner dress" when he picked it out for her. It was chic and classy, fitting her like a glove. She just wish this dress wasn't going to be tainted with a memories of her horrible reunion with her estranged father.

Feeling exasperated, she ditched the eyeshadow palette. She was too nervous to apply make-up, this was her fifth time getting liquid eyeliner all in the corner of her eyes. Again, why the hell does she care what he thought of her anyway?

"Dammit! Stop shaking!" Maya looked down at her trembling hands. "Fine, I'll just do my hair."

She tried to tie her hair up in a messy bun, ponytail, loose braid, and a fishtail but it all looked like crap. She heard a voice coming from her living room and knocking on the door, Maya's cool totally melted away and she was left with this unfamiliar feeling of panic.

"Shit! I'll be right there!" Maya called out. She yanked all of the bobby pins and ponytails out, letting her hair fall down in chaotic waves. She glanced at her vanity again and realized how unprepared she was for this.

"You can do this Maya," talking to no one in particular but herself. Giving herself some of the much needed confidence Lucas provided her a couple of hours ago.

Maya's heart pounded in her ears again when she came face-to-face to her dad again.

"Hi" was all that could get past her lips. Kermit smiled at her but it didn't quite reach his eyes. He was carrying a pink bag with purple tissue paper under his leather jacket. Maya stared at it suspiciously and cocked a brow at her dad, if he knew anything about her, he would know that she absolutely hated pink.

"Uh, come in," Maya said when he didn't respond.

"Mom's not here yet, she's finishing up her shift but she'll be here in 30."

When Kermit heard this, he sighed in slight relief but his rigid posture only loosened a bit.

"Um, I've got macaroni and mashed potatoes ready, I think mom's bringing back some Chinese. Do you want to come in?" Kermit looked around their apartment and slowly walked over the threshold like she rigged the doorway with booby traps.

Kermit cautiously handed her the pink bag which she took awkwardly. She placed it on the coffee table and tried to take his jacket out of his hands to place it on the coatrack.

"Actually I came just to talk to you Maya. I can't stay for dinner but what I have to say won't take long." Maya froze and her gaze turned cold as ice.

"What do you mean? You're not staying for dinner like you promised?" Great another promise broken. Kermit winced when he realized he just let Maya down again.

"Do you have to make it back to your _other_ family?" Maya asked bitterly.

"No Maya, it's not that," Maya flinched when Kermit tried to touch her hand. He looked so broken and dismayed when she refused to feel any sort of comfort from him. Her reaction caused something deep inside of him to tear apart. He wanted to hold his daughter again after 10 years but couldn't get to the walls she built around herself.

"I saw it in your face earlier today; my presence isn't good for you. You're here, but everytime I talk to you, you're not actually here listening. I knew it was too soon to show up. I thought I was ready and I thought we were both ready. But after today I realized I don't regret coming to New York and seeing you at all." Maya wiped away the angry tears spilling from her eyes when she heard her dad open up to her.

"I want to spend every last moment of my life getting to know you, because you've grown into such a bright and young woman, and I couldn't be more proud of you. But I know that I won't really ever get to know all of you. Even if you forgive me someday and let me into your life again, you'll always be weary of me. I've hurt you and made you angry, I know there will always be some sort of mistrust standing in our way." Maya got tears all over her new dress and she hated him for making her feel so vulnerable and broken all over again.

"I'm so happy that you've turned out so well despite all the hurt and insecurities I've caused you to have. You managed to have friends like Riley who care about you, something I've never really had when I was your age. That tells me that you're really loved here and that you had someone to pick up the pieces I've left."

"You know Riley's dad, Cory, has been more of a father to me than you ever will be," Maya glared at him angrily, not giving a shit that she was being the bad guy here. She wanted to erase this whole conversation from her mind and crawl back to Riley's bedroom.

"And that's why you don't need me right now Maya. All you need from me is an explanation."

"I don't want to hear it!" Maya would rather be having a screaming match with Lucas about horses than be in this exact moment. Maya covered her ears like a kid, muffling out his weak apology.

"Just promise me to at least forgive yourself or try to come to peace with it," Kermit pleaded.

Maya's thoughts immediately shot to Lucas when he said to her something along those lines. Maya gasped when she took a deep breath because it felt like she was drowning.

"How can I do that when you've broken me already? How the hell does someone just get over something like this that quickly? Care to give me advice on how to expunge all of these deep self-rooted issues and insecurities away? Because hearing your explanation won't matter for shit! It's not going to make me skip through a field of daisies and barf rainbows. That's Riley's thing, not mine. So what I need you to do is to get out."

Maya yanked open the door and silently willed him to leave. Kermit read her thoughts and carried himself to the door like he just lost a war.

"Wait," Maya called out before he left. Kermit turned around hopefully and expected to see her expression waver but it was cold and unwavering like a statue. She picked up the present he gave her and threw it at him.

"Take it back, I don't want your stupid present," Kermit felt himself crumble even more when he clutched the gift bag. He thought he could take Katy throwing food at his face and giving him the cold shoulder, but life couldn't prepare him for how he felt when Maya threw the gift in his face. He couldn't decide if it stung more that she doesn't want the present or the fact that she didn't bother to open it.

"Maya please, take it." He kept his arm outstretched waiting for her to change her mind, but she crossed her arms and chewed her lip, looking anywhere but him.

"Just leave. That's what you're good at right?" She didn't give him any time to respond when she slammed the door in front of his face. He kept staring at the door for a while, ignoring all the curious looks he got in the hallway.

He still wanted her to have the gift and thought about leaving it right outside the door but he didn't want anyone taking it. He decided on something that wasn't going to make Katy happy. When he turned the corner to Topanga's, he couldn't help but feel like he was going to get into another food fight.

* * *

After she kicked her dad out, she thought she'd feel better, but she ended up in a heap of tears on the floor. The weight on her shoulders just got heavier and now she felt the baggage just increase tenfold. She still felt a complete utter sense of hopelessness pull on her like a heavy tide. She hadn't budged from her spot for an hour even though she was sitting on china. The kitchen looked like a hurricane swept in and left in a frenzy. Not a short angry blonde pulling the tablecloth right from underneath the dishes and destroying everything in her view.

There was shuffling at the door and she sensed that it was her mom jingling the keys in the lock. She heard her mom drop her bags at the floor and call out her name. Katy looked all around the darkened apartment and didn't see light coming from Maya's door. She peeked through her daughter's room and frowned, getting worried that Maya went out and wandered the streets.

Katy dialed her Maya's cellphone and heard a loud vibration coming from the kitchen, Katy jumped a bit when she heard scuffling behind the island counter. She turned on the lights and gasped when she took the scene before her. It was like someone murdered her kitchen! She was startled when she saw Maya on the ground surrounded by shards of glass. Maya looked up in panic when she saw her mom standing in front of her shocked speechless.

She expected her mom to say, "Maya Penelope Hart, clean the mess up this instant!"

But she was jolted by bewilderment when her mom crouched down and hugged her tightly. Katy soothingly stroked her hair and kissed her on the temple.

"Is my baby girl okay?" Maya nodded silently. Katy double checked her wrists and everywhere to make sure there weren't any cuts. She finally relaxed when she didn't find any injuries on her daughter.

"I'm sorry mom," Maya croaked. Katy shushed her telling her there was no need to apologize. Katy stood up and surveyed the crime scene. She pulled out the dustpan, apron, and gloves out of the closet.

"Do you need me to clean up?" Katy gave her a small smile and shook her head.

"No baby girl, just go back to your room and eat the takeout I got," Maya nodded again and picked up the steaming box of rice and lo mein to bring to her room. When she got comfy on her bed she flipped the channels on her tiny little TV box to _Friends._ In a couple of minutes she forgot all about today and clapped along during the theme song, taking some comfort in her delicious Chinese food.

She went back to the kitchen to throw out her finished containers and was amazed that the kitchen went back to normal. It didn't look like she had just had a temper tantrum in there. In fact, her mother left out flowers in a vase on the island counter.

"Maya?" Her mother called out from her bedroom.

"Yeah?" Katy walked out in her diner uniform.

"Could you zip this up?"

"Sure." Katy was about ready to head out to her 2nd job when Maya saw the pink bag on the coffee table again.

"How did that get here?" Maya felt like she was going to hurl another plate at the wall.

Katy walked over to Maya and hugged her, "Your dad stopped by Topanga's to drop this off so I can give it to you."

"But I threw it at him because I don't want it, mom please don't make me open it."

Katy shushed her and lifted Maya's chin gently to look at her. "I'm not going to force you to do anything honey, you'll open it when you're ready." Maya cried into her mom's shoulder, feeling grief pushing away the small amount of happiness she felt being enveloped in her mother's arms. At least she had one parent in her life.

Suddenly Maya felt herself forgive her mother for working during all of her art showcases, she was just grateful she had someone to watch over her, and protect her from her dad.

"What did you say when he gave you this? How did you react to seeing him again?"

"I took it harder than you sweetie, I didn't let him leave without giving him a piece of my mind."

"I doubt it, I yelled at him and slammed the door in his face," her mind echoing his departure.

It was like they were having a competition on who treated Kermit the worst.

"Yeah but did you throw all of the food we had in stock at his face?" Katy and Maya giggled.

Maya hiccuped with laughter, distracted from her tears, imagining Kermit with cheesecake and bread dripping off his face.

"I tried to forgive him mom. I really did. I was about to after dinner, but he broke his promise again to stay. He didn't even try the food I spent so hard making." Maya remembered all of the grueling tasks she had to go through just to prepare for this meal and make everything perfect.

"And you will someday, sweetie."

"You're not taking his side are you?" Katy shook her head and looked at Maya like she was crazy.

"Of course not. It took him a lot of begging for me to pass his message along to you Maya. Because I don't want to see get hurt again, let alone from that man again. But he said you needed to see this."

Maya nodded, understanding what she meant. Katy handed her a tissue and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Do you want me to call out and stay with you?"

Maya shook her head adamantly, "No It's okay, I'll be fine."

"You sure? Do you want me to at least call Topanga and bring Riley over for a sleepover?"

"Yeah that would be great."

"Okay honey, I'm leaving now but I'll call her. And can you promise me something Maya?"

"Yeah?"

"Please don't hurt yourself when I'm gone." Katy took one last look at her daughter, hoping she'll be okay.

* * *

 **And there's chapter 3! Sorry there wasn't any Lucaya moments in here but I promise I have everything planned out, and Lucas will appear in the next chapter. Remember guys: patience. This IS a Lucacya story, but I wanted to slowly build up their relationships and tie everything in with the episodes so it doesn't seem that far off canon. But I also want this story to be an adventure into everyone's personal lives, because there's so much potential in each character.**

 **Sorry for the angst, but once I brought Maya's dad into this, I realized I couldn't pull out the brakes to their intense confrontation. I think last week's epeisode really hit home with me and I wanted to analyze their relationship further, because I was so frustrated how blasé and nonchalant Kermit was when he spoke to Maya. I knew that it had to be more angsty than that! But kudos to Sabrina Carpenter, that was a spot on reaction.**

 **Anyways sorry for the long Author's note but this will be the longest one I promise, just wanted to clear up some things. Please keep on following and reviewing because I'd love to know what you guys think because you're awesome and it'll motivate to write more. Have a great day! :)**

 **-Nina**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! It's been a couple of days but I finally got chapter 4 up!**

 **I really enjoyed your reviews and I hope you keep on writing them because it really makes my day!**

 **These past couple of days has been hard on us because we lost a lot of people in those Paris attacks. I want to say that this had heavily affected me and that my thoughts and prayers go out to those who lost a loved one there. So I'm going to dedicate this to Paris.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World but if I did I would make Lucaya happen now.**

* * *

Maya's phone started blasting "You Are The Sunshine of My Life" by Frank Sinatra. Maya already knew who it was before she picked up. Maya was extremely proud of herself when she personalized Sinatra to play whenever Riley called. Even Riley gave her the seal of approval.

"Sunshine?"

"Peaches!" Riley panted through the phone, oh was she glad that Maya picked up on her first call. She could finally relax when she heard her friend's sassy voice through her ear.

"Are you okay? You sound like you ran a marathon."

"Me? I'm perfectly fine, you're the one that's not okay!"

"You sound like a frightened hen. Why are you worried?" Riley was getting exasperated when Maya reciprocated her question with another question.

"Maya this isn't about me, I am worried. About you!" Riley emphasized the last part.

"Why didn't you answer my first question?" Maya knew tiptoeing around the subject would tick Riley off even more.

"Why can't you answer mine?" Riley narrowed her eyes. They were trying to size each other up until one or the other gave up; Maya was surprised Riley wasn't budging.

She sighed, "Yes I'm fine. I'm just shaken up a bit. I'll admit I'm not feeling my best right now."

"Maya Hart has officially been knocked down a peg." Riley's heart broke in two. It was so unlike her to be insecure, for most of her life all she knew was the confident and cool Maya. She remembered how much she looked up to her and wanted to be her.

Maya squeezed her eyes shut, wishing today was just a horrible dream. All she wanted was to cuddle with her best friend and cry on her lap while Riley rubbed circles on her back.

"I need my Riley fix. Are you coming over to watch movie marathons with shitty, absentee fathers with me?" She was really in the mood to stuff her face with ice cream and throw popcorn at the screen.

"My mom told me what happened. Don't worry Maya, I'm on my way now. I just shoved all my clothes in my overnight bag," Riley surveyed her messy, chaotic room. When her mom told her to pack up and go to Maya's, Riley didn't waste any time.

At first she was confused why her mom told her to stay over at Maya's on a school night, but all Topanga said was Maya really needed her because things didn't go well with her father. Riley asked her mom to tell her more, but Topanga said it wasn't in her place and went back to the living room.

When Riley heard her mom talking to someone she realized it was probably Maya's mom.

Curious as to why her mom was being so quiet, Riley decided to reach for the other home phone and eavesdrop on their conversation. Riley really hated herself for snooping, but the guilt manifested into obsession. Obsession to protect Maya from herself at all costs.

Riley was usually a really neat and organized person, but didn't care that there was a mountain of clothes and miscellaneous objects on her bed, and DVDs strewn across the floor.

"I also have a lot of movies you can pick from."

"Bring the Breakfast Club." Riley smiled, proud that she knew her friend so well.

"I already got that in my bag."

"Riley! It's time to go, I need to get you to Maya's before Auggie's bedtime!" Maya heard Topanga call out and Riley yelling okay, heaving her stuff out of their house.

"I'll see you in a couple Riley," Maya made a move to hang up but paused when Riley practically screamed in her ear.

"Wait don't! Just stay with me."

"You're being ridiculous Riley, I need to go so I can set up my room for our sleepover."

"So? You can put your phone on speaker." Maya's suspicion rose, what was up with her? Well she knew if she didn't listen to her friend now, she'll just receive a nagging of a lifetime tonight.

* * *

Maya listened to Riley ramble for almost 20 minutes straight. Maya grew bored and snuck out of her room, leaving her phone laid out on her vanity. She really hoped Riley wouldn't notice she was gone for a moment.

Riley was going on and on about the latest episode of _Grey's Anatomy_ Maya missed, until she heard dead silence on the other end.

"Maya?" Riley hoped her friend just fell asleep on her or wasn't paying attention. But Riley just _knew._ She's known Maya her entire life for crying out loud; she wasn't fooled at all.

Are you kidding me? She wasn't even there!

Hell she couldn't even feel Maya rolling her eyes at her.

"MAYA!" Topanga jumped out of her seat and almost swerved off the lane. Topanga placed her hand over her heart like she just had a heart attack. Sometimes her daughter scared her to death, she was just glad Cory wasn't here to flip out.

Maya left her phone for about a minute to get a glass of water, but when she came back she could feel her bedroom walls shake. Shit!

"Riles…" Maya tried to explain.

"Don't ever leave the phone again missy!"

"I just went to the kitchen to get myself a drink." Riley was peeved.

"That better be a really good drink, Maya."

"I'm sorry, I really am. I'm just going back to the kitchen for some snacks."

"With me," Riley commanded.

"Yes, with you," Maya picked up her cell and her cup. Maya squinted through the darkness, trying to make her way back to the kitchen. Suddenly Maya felt a sharp pain shoot up in her big toe.

"Ow! Shit!" Maya dropped her water and let out a stream of expletives. Riley heard a thud and Maya yell out in pain. Her heart rate sped up and she was sweating with worry.

"Maya! What's going on?"

"I stubbed my toe on this stupid, worthless coffee table. But I'm fine now."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah I will be, I'll just put ice on it later."

Maya scoured through her fridge, cabinets, and closets for a decent snack. She finally settled on a packet of popcorn, plopped it into the microwave and set the timer to 3 minutes.

When Maya slammed the microwave door shut, Riley's ear perked up, immediately assuming the worst. It was loud enough to startle Riley and flood her mind with images of a stranger or a robber in her apartment.

"What was that?"

Are you kidding me? This was the tenth time Riley asked her that. She was starting to get really suspicious.

Maya knew Riley found out about her miserable confrontation with her dad, but that shouldn't have turned her into a possessive Mama Bear.

"For the last time, it was nothing. It was my microwave."

"I'm sorry, I'll back off." When the timer went off, Maya eagerly got the bag out and took a sniff of its delicious buttery goodness; she couldn't wait to get her hands in it.

After she opened the bag from its sharp, razor-like seal, she plopped a couple of pieces into her mouth but spit them out when she realized how hot they were. Ugh! She burned her hands and got a small paper cut too. She ran to the faucet and sighed in relief when the cold water soothed the minor ache in her affected fingers.

"Maya are you okay?"

That's it! She's finally reached the end of her patience. She loved Riley and thought her overprotectiveness was endearing at first, but now it just made her want to shoot herself in the head.

"Yes Riley! I'm absolutely perfect! In fact right now I'm barfing rainbows into the sink."

Riley knew Maya's voice was dripping with sarcasm. That sentence was anything but playful.

"Why are you overreacting to every little thing I do? Just because I stub my toe or cut my finger on accident you act as if I'm about to throw myself off a cliff."

"Then stop being so klutzy! That's supposed to be apart of my awkward personality."

"What are you trying to say? Just spit it out."

"Maya are you deliberately trying to hurt yourself?"

"No! Who fed you that bullshit?" Riley's face scrunched in disgust.

"Maya, language!" She chastised.

"Don't try to dodge my question, you've been acting weird this past hour. Why do you feel the need to keep tabs on me? Why can't I leave my phone for a second without you flipping shit?"

"Maya I know you snapped and threw dishes everywhere."

Maya placed a hand on her forehead, "How do you know about that? Did my mom tell you?"

Riley panicked when she sensed Maya was growing distrustful towards her mom; she had to immediately rectify it. "No, your mom told my mom in complete confidence. Don't get mad at me, but I was listening to their conversation through the other phone."

"Riley!"

"I'm sorry," Riley saw her mother's disappointed expression from the corner of her eye.

Her mom took a turn and pulled up in front of Maya's apartment complex.

"Why do you always stick your nose into other people's business?"

Riley gave her mom a kiss and slammed the door shut, waving goodbye to Topanga.

"When it comes to you Maya, everything is my business."

A resident walked out of the complex and held open the door for her as she lugged two backpacks inside. She nodded her thanks to the stranger and waited for the elevator.

"Well it's my decision if I want my business to become yours. What if I didn't want you to know that?"

"Do you mean that?" Riley asked in dismay as she stepped into the elevator. She pressed the button for the fourth floor and patiently waited for the doors to close.

Maya didn't say anything for awhile, "I was going to tell you Riley. We're sisters, we tell each other everything. I'm just upset that you didn't find out from me. Don't you trust me to eventually come to you?"

"Of course I trust you. I just didn't know what I would do if you had actually hurt yourself for being so careless."

"But I didn't hurt myself."

"But what if you will next time?"

"Riley, is that why you won't let me hang up?"

"Yeah," Riley whispered. Maya shook her head, realizing what Riley did was out of love.

Riley stepped out of the dingy elevator and made a turn to Maya's door.

"Do you promise to tell me everything when I get there?"

Maya smiled and nodded, "Every little painful detail."

"Good then open the door." Maya ran to the door and flung it open.

Riley opened her arms to her and pulled Maya in for a bone crushing, rainbow filled hug. Maya laughed and squeezed back. She was so grateful she had Riley to bring lightness into her dark life.

"I appreciate you being so overprotective, but to be honest with you, your overbearing tactics are making me want to hurt myself," Maya's voice muffled through Riley's hair.

"Maya, that's not funny." Riley took Maya's shoulders and forced her to look at her.

"I just had a moment of weakness and I thought breaking our china would release all of this pent up anger."

"Listen to me Maya. You are a survivor. You will get through this!"

"But what if I can't this time? This is way worse than when your dad tried to fail me. I don't know if I can get past this."

"Trust me you will. You've got me, Lucas, Farkle, my mom and dad, your mom, Auggie, and even Shawn. We'll be here to pick you back up on your feet and give you a shove in the right direction."

"But Riles, I've cried more today than I have my entire life. I don't know how to get a grip on my emotions. I just feel like I'm going to explode."

"Just let it all out. Cry as much as you want because I'll wipe them all away for you."

Riley's poetic words tugged at Maya's heart. It made her want to cry even more.

"But you're not allowed to continue this self-destruction. Because it hurts you and everyone you love."

Maya nodded and wiped her sweaty hands on her dress. Riley looked down and frowned.

"You're still wearing Shawn's dress. Let's get you inside and put you into some comfy PJ's."

Riley steered her friend into her room and helped her clean up. Riley handed her make-up remover wipes so she could erase the streaked mascara and ruined eyeliner. While Maya got ready, Riley set up the living room for their movie marathon. All the popcorn, candy, and junk food were splayed out on the table. Riley inserted the first movie: the Breakfast Club.

Riley shared the blankets with Maya so that they could both be cozy. They were silent for most of the film, besides the sound of Riley munching on popcorn. Riley couldn't focus on the movie because she was worried for the blonde beside her. She kept checking on Maya from the corner of her eye and saw that her face was blank.

Maya didn't crack a smile even at her favorite part when Andy was doing gymnastics because they were all high. Her face was bleak, her mouth set in a grim line. She rejected all of the rainbow vibes coming from her best friend, because her misery was so profound; it worked like a shield.

When the movie ended, Riley checked to see if her friend was sleepy. It was like Maya was a statue because her expression was still the same.

"Do you want to watch another one?" Maya didn't say anything but blinked slowly as a sign to continue. Riley took a look at the DVDs she brought. She brought one from every genre for good measure.

"How about a chick flick?" No response.

Riley tried again, "Fantasy? Action? Horror? Comedy? Rom-com? Documentary?" Riley sighed when Maya didn't acknowledge any of her suggestions. Riley chose the chick flick and slid the movie in. She plopped back down on the couch and squeezed Maya's knee.

Maya stiffened when she realized what movie was playing.

 _The Last Song_

A typical Nicholas Sparks romance filled with cheesy clichés, false hope, and unobtainable relationship goals.

But that wasn't the reason why Maya cringed.

It was the relationship between the main girl and her estranged father.

Maya knew their situation was nothing like hers, but she felt like this movie almost paralleled with her life. It was the way Ronnie Miller pushed away her dad. It just screamed to her, but she didn't want to finish watching it. She didn't want to see her try to mend things with her dad.

Maya abruptly got up and went into her bedroom. Riley paused the movie and immediately went to Maya. Riley was confused as ever, Maya didn't laugh during _The Breakfast Club,_ she fled out during the middle of the movie, and she wasn't eating any of the snacks Riley had laid out for her. She sat on her bed waiting for Maya to crack and say something.

"Why did you put that movie on?" Maya gripped the bed sheets tightly, her posture stiff and on high-alert.

"Because I wanted to watch it. I was in a mood for a chick-flick." Maya didn't know if that was Riley's real motive or not. Did she put that movie on to get a reaction out of her?

"Was that on purpose? We could've watched another movie like _The Notebook,_ but seriously?"

"I'm not trying to irritate you Maya, I didn't realize it might've been too much for you until later. But gosh Maya, could you at least give me something to work with? You've been quiet all night. I thought we were going to talk about something, but couldn't even get a peep out of you through 2 movies. Being numb isn't a good thing, you're supposed to feel _something."_

"Can you blame me? I'm not you Riley, I don't act upon my emotions."

"But you can't suppress them either," she pointed out, frustrated that Maya wouldn't budge.

"What do you want me to say? That I feel horrible for kicking my dad out and that I actually thought he could keep another promise?" Maya's vision was beginning to blur and she felt her eyes sting with unshed tears.

"I'm sorry Maya. I understand-" Maya butted in, not wanting to hear her apology or pity. Her irritation was mounting the more she tried to deflect her responses.

"No you don't. How can you possibly understand?" Maya stood up and paced around the room, ignoring Riley's hurt expression.

Maya pointed at Riley accusingly, "You with the perfect life. The perfect family. The perfect parents."

"I don't have a perfect life!" Riley protested. Why can't Maya listen to her for a minute?

"You've got your whole life waiting for you. The world wants you to take it! You have so many opportunities, Riley. All I have are closed doors. You have the best family and I'm always jealous of you because of it. No matter how hard I try to be a Matthews, I can't because we're not related by blood. All you've seen in your life are sunshine and unicorns, you couldn't possibly understand an inch of what I go through."

"That's not fair Maya! I have felt sadness too, not every day is a sunny day for me either. And I'm trying to understand you but you won't let me."

Riley looked pretty peeved, "and don't you remember anything from these past few years with me? You are family, you doughnut!"

Maya raised a brow at Riley's poor attempt to call her a name, "We're sisters, related or not related. You have your own place at the table, the bay window, and the left side of my bed. My parents were even going to give you a spare key for crying out loud! Stop saying you're all alone in this. I hate it when you try to push me away from you."

Wow Riley actually hates something? Maya folded her arms and tapped her foot impatiently.

"Are you done yet?" Riley's eyes glinted with determination.

"Not even close. But I'll let you speak since we're having an adult heart-to-heart."

"This isn't a mature conversation if you keep calling me food names."

Riley rolled her eyes, "whatever, Snicker doodle." Riley sat down on the bed, gracefully crossed her legs, and placed her hands on her knees like Mia Thermopolis.

"I'm done fighting you on this. I'm tired from today and I just want to get past this and move on," Maya suddenly felt fatigued. All this emotional rollercoaster of today was really bogging her down.

"Can we not flight please? Look, I'm sorry. You're trying to help but I wouldn't let you. I want to fix things not make things between us worse. I love you Riley and if you weren't here right now we would've ran out of china. I just want us to be okay, the rest I can handle, but I definitely can't handle being angry at each other."

Riley realized that she was making things worse for Maya, she shouldn't force anything out of her because Maya was different. She would shut down for a little bit but would gradually come back to her and she needed to give Maya space. Maya was right, she was lucky to have such a great family and Riley didn't understand that until now. Some things were beyond her control, but Riley still couldn't fight this innate desire to fix everything.

"This is my fault. I'm sorry Maya, I shouldn't force you into telling me anything. Being angry at each other won't help fix things between your dad."

Riley patted the spot beside her, "Since we don't have a bay window here, this will be our temporary one. Because we need it."

Maya crawled to the spot next to her and rested her head on Riley's shoulder. "I guess I should keep my promise to you."

Riley's face crinkled in confusion, "which promise?"

"Where I tell you what happened after I walked out of Topanga's earlier today."

"You don't have to because you promised me."

Maya insisted, "No I want to get this off my chest. Friends should each other everything. But sisters have to tell each other everything." At this, Riley gave Maya a toothy grin.

Maya took a deep breath and then shot into her story. She did tell Riley every little painful detail from this evening. Maya had to look back at the painful memory and recall the things Kermit said that cut her deeply. She stumbled a couple of times because she felt like she was suffocating from rejection, and fighting back the tears made it harder for her to concentrate. When she got to the part where she kicked her dad out she noticed Riley was chewing her lip in worry, picturing what was to come next. Maya reluctantly told her about her temper tantrum where she screamed and threw the dishes on the ground; picturing it was Kermit's face.

It took her a while to finish, but Riley didn't interrupt and encouraged her by rubbing comforting circles on her back. Maya didn't realize she was sobbing into Riley's lap until Riley whispered gentle words while she stroked Maya's hair. She thought she even heard Riley call her dad "a piece of crap dad" but she could've been imagining things. Riley pushed back Maya's hair so pieces of it won't get wet and stick to her face.

Riley looked into her bloodshot eyes and the heavy bags underneath her eyelids. She felt helpless when all she could do was sit there and watch her weep in agony. This was who Maya really was at her core; a sensitive, caring, and vulnerable person. She never showed anyone else this side to her except Riley because she hated showing people she was weak. She had a reputation to hold at school and she couldn't let people step on her or gossip about her personal life. Things were tough as it is at home, why add school to her misery?

Riley got up to get the box of tissues and wiped some of the tears off her face.

Continuing where they left off, Riley asked, "And what was inside the pink bag?"

"I haven't opened it yet." Maya got up and went into her closet where she hid the bag under piles of clothes, so she wouldn't see it or think about it. Riley's eyes widened when she saw Maya set it between them.

"Do you want to open it?" Riley shook her head and pushed the bag away from her face towards Maya's direction.

"I can't Maya, that's for you to open."

"Can't we at least open it together?" Riley shook her head again.

"I think it should be for your own eyes only."

Maya was about to protest but Riley motioned her to stop, "It doesn't have to be today. You can open whenever you want, a month, a year, or even a decade."

When Maya didn't say anything after staring off into the distance, Riley got up.

"So I think we need some ice-cream to swallow down all that angst. Our sleepover can't all be tears. We've eaten popcorn, watched a sad movie, talked about today but now we need to check the ice-cream off our list." Riley disappeared before she got a word in.

Maya went over to her vanity when she heard vibrating noises and realized she had forgotten about her phone all night. She saw the screen filled with notifications from everyone: Farkle, Zay, Cory, and Topanga.

 **Topanga: Hope you're doing okay honey. Wish you two sweet dreams :)**

 **Cory: Don't let this get to you Maya. You're stronger than anyone I know. I'll see you two at school tomorrow.**

 **Cory: And don't let Riley eat too much sugar**

 **Farkle: Why aren't you and Riley picking up?**

 **Farkle: call or text me back asap if you want in on my world domination plans. This one's good.**

 **Farkle: Idk why you're not replying but whatever it is, I hope you're okay.**

 **Zay: hey blonde beauty, Farkle wants to know why you and the pretty brunette are ignoring him. Text him back soon so he won't force me to listen to his "world domination plans" whatever that is.**

Maya quickly skimmed over every text and cracked a smile at Zay and rolled her eyes at Farkle. But her heart suddenly stopped in her chest.

Huckleberry.

He texted her and called her multiple times. She eagerly read what he texted and hungrily re-read every word until her head was spinning.

 **Ranger Rick: hey how'd the dinner go?**

 **Ranger Rick: good luck :) I know you've got it in you. Tell me how things go tonight, I'll be waiting.**

 **Ranger Rick: I know it's late and you haven't called yet, but I'm getting tired, so I'm gonna hit the hay ;). Talk to you tomorrow.**

Her heart jumped in her throat when it said Lucas left her a voicemail. She couldn't help but tremble when she pressed play, dying in anticipation to hear his voice.

"Hey Maya, I called earlier to check up on you, but you didn't answer. So hopefully that means you're still with your dad and talking about things. I hope everything went well with Kermit."

The voicemail went quiet for a little bit and Maya wondered if that was it, but her phone said there was still another minute left.

Lucas' voice suddenly became soft, "I want to say thank you for trusting me enough to tell me things about your personal life. I know we never were that close, but I've always wanted us to be. I liked it when you confided in me and asked me for advice, and I just wanted to let you know that I'll always be here too. Despite what happened in Texas…"

"Maya? Who's that on the phone?"

Maya heard Riley come back in and panicked. She hastily ended the voicemail and dropped the phone on the floor.

* * *

 **Ooh so a sorta cliff-hanger there haha!**

 **So Lucas was kinda in the chapter. Ok ok so he wasn't really in it but we got to hear his voice so yay.**

 **Guys, you have no idea how hard it was to write this chapter. I agonized over making this perfect for you guys, I hoped I captured everything correctly and didn't make Maya and Riley's conversation too cheesy. Tell me what you guys think.**

 **Anyways, next chapter: we are going to see Lucas and his beautiful face! :D so get pumped.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys I'm back for chpater 5! Who's excited? Okay, just me? Alright then.**

 **HUGE S/O TO MY BETA, MISSLYS19, SHE'S SO AMAZING. PLEASE GO CHECK OUT HER GMW RIARKLE STORY: GIRL MEETS FARKLE**

 **IF YOU GUYS CAN GO CHECK OUT THE STORY AND MAYBE LEAVE A REVIEW THAT WOULD MEAN THE WORLD TO HER. SHE'S THE BEST BETA A GIRL COULD ASK FOR, SHE LITERALLY SPENDS HOURS LATE AT NIGHT TRYING TO HELP ME. SHE EVEN PROOFREAD THIS CHAPTER WHEN I'M ALL THE WAY HERE IN NYC :)**

 **Seriously guys I'm so relieved to post this because this took me the longest to write, it was so agonizing! I had serious writer's block and I even had to scrape half of the first draft I wrote for this. But I'm finally happy with the end results, hope you guys love it too!**

 **So I started my Thanksgiving vacation a little early and now I'm in New York. This means that I probably won't update for a while :( but I I'm posting this now so you guys have something for Turkey week!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World but if I did I would make Lucaya happen now.**

* * *

"Who were you talking to?"

"Nobody." Riley squinted at Maya suspiciously, but handed her the ice cream.

"Then why were you smiling?" Maya schooled her expression to remain impassive and shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"My mom left me a message." Riley relaxed; relieved it wasn't about something or someone else.

"That's sweet, what did she say?"

The ice cream slowly slid down her throat like cement as she tried to think of something to cover up her tracks.

Hesitantly and a little bit apprehensive Maya thought of a response, "she wished me a good night and told me that she loved me."

It wasn't that Maya didn't trust Riley, she just didn't know how her friend will react. Even though Riley made it clear to everyone, including Lucas, that she loved him like a brother, Maya couldn't help but feel like she had to tiptoe on eggshells when anyone mentioned his name around her.

Maya wasn't paying attention because she was too busy thinking about Lucas' voicemail. She wasn't sure whether or not she was insanely happy, anxious, or scared when she heard his voice. He made her feel warm and gooey inside but also a nervous and sweaty mess. She doesn't know how she'll act around him tomorrow; she doesn't want to relive the awkwardness and tension that plagued their group after they came back from Texas.

Of course when things were gradually going back to the way things were he had to leave her a message that confused the hell out of her. That damn Huckleberry. He couldn't possibly care that much can he?

Except for the last part of the voicemail.

All she could think of was what he was going to say about Texas that left her mind reeling with questions and possibilities. Ultimately it was a good thing Riley interrupted because she didn't want to know if he thought they should keep their relationship strictly platonic.

"Maya!" Riley waved a hand in front of her face to snap her out of her daydreaming.

Maya's vision focused on her friend, "yeah, sorry what?"

Riley repeated herself, "I asked you what you were going to write in your forgiveness report."

"I haven't thought of what I was going to present, but what is there left to say anyways? I didn't actually forgive my dad," Maya said in between mouthfuls of rocky-road.

"It's okay that you didn't, but at least you've learnt something from this."

"I don't want anyone knowing how fucked up my life is. They'll think I'm broken and weak, then nobody will take me seriously ever again."

"Maya, there's more to school than showing everyone you're tough. Besides, you know my dad might pick on you to give our class an update."

"It's okay, I can handle your dad. I'll just lie and say everything went well."

Riley gave her a stern look, "Maya, that won't work. My dad already knows that things didn't go well with your dad."

"Yeah but not everyone else does," Maya shrugged.

"But what about Farkle, Zay, and Lucas? They're your friends too and they'll want to know what happened."

Maya stiffened when she heard her mention Lucas.

That's exactly what she was afraid of. Sure it was one thing to be embarrassed her in front of her classmates but she didn't want her friends to look at her differently, as if she was weak. She didn't want pity from any of them.

Especially from Lucas.

She didn't want to see the disappointment in his eyes when he realized she didn't take any of his advice at all. She didn't try to listen to her dad or give herself a chance to forgive him. Lucas told her she was the most secure person that he knew, but she wasn't secure at all. She was far from it and she didn't want him to lose interest in her and treat her differently because of it. They wouldn't be equals in their game anymore would they?

"I don't want Lucas to know," Maya said angrily when she thought about how he'll react, until she realized what slipped out of her mouth.

Shit.

She didn't mean to say that aloud.

Riley's shoulders immediately tensed up.

"I mean I don't want anyone to know," Maya quickly corrected herself.

But from the look in Riley's eyes, she knew she couldn't take back what she said. Maya said his name and now shit was about to go down.

There was a hard glint in Riley's hazel eyes. It didn't allude to happiness, sympathy, or acceptance. Maya gulped down the last of her ice cream and sat on her cold hands to keep them from shaking.

"Why don't you want Lucas to know?" Riley tried to act nonchalant but failed. She forced her voice to sound cheerful but it sounded like she was chewing gravel.

Riley's tone was even and detached, scaring Maya to death. There definitely weren't any unicorns running through Riley's head right now.

"Well I don't want him to use this against me in our game."

She could tell that Riley didn't believe any of her bullshit. Riley's irritation was growing every time Maya tried to lie to her.

"Is that the real reason?" Riley asked sharply.

"You want to hide this from him and go through all this trouble to lie to everyone because you don't want him to one-up you?"

Maya stayed frozen in shock, surprised by how cold the room became.

"Well guess what? Not everything is a game when it comes to Lucas. He wouldn't do that to you because he's a sweet, caring, and smart guy."

Maya couldn't believe her. Riley was accusing her like she was the bad guy who was trying to toy with Lucas' emotions. That was far from the truth, Maya did care about him a lot, but in her own weird way. In fact, she was the one who was scared to be hurt by Lucas more than the other way around. That's why she wanted to hide this from him; it was because she cared about what he thought of her.

"I have my own reasons for not telling Lucas, please don't ask me why Riley," Maya said exasperatedly. However, this only piqued Riley's curiosity and made her want to push Maya a little more to get information.

"Do you still care more about this game between the both of you than actually addressing things?"

"Yes. The game's important because that's the only way we know how to interact with each other. Why do you care so much?" Maya asked a little warily.

Riley wanted to bang her head against a wall. She was unbelievably upset that all this pain she caused herself was coming back to bite her in the butt. Maya didn't know how much she sacrificed for the sake of her friend's happiness. She thought stepping back was the right thing to do since the blonde and the cowboy both had feelings for each other, but it seems like she read the whole thing wrong; she pushed them both together when they weren't ready to admit anything to each other. Hell, she wasn't even ready to give up Lucas and admit to herself she was over him.

"I care about him because he's my brother," the lie rolled off her tongue out of habit, but she couldn't help but cringe every time she heard herself refer to them as that.

"That's the thing Riles, Lucas and I aren't close like that. We don't go to each other when we're hurt or tell each other how we feel like you do with him. It's just not our thing," Maya shrugged.

"He's going to find out one way or another."

"You're not going to tell him are you?" Maya asked alarmingly and Riley paused. Maya saw the meddling and scheming look in her eyes.

"I really need you to not meddle in this because you've already done enough," Maya said seriously.

Riley's brow furrowed in confusion, "what in the world does that mean?"

"Oh come on, don't act like you don't remember. It was literally the most embarrassing moment in my life! How could you tell Lucas that I liked him in front of everyone?" Maya pulled at her hair to help blow off her frustration.

Riley stood up abruptly and clenched her fists; "I did that for you, Maya."

"Well I didn't ask you to be in charge of my love life now, did I?" Maya snapped back.

"I can't believe you," Riley huffed.

"If I had a thing for Lucas, I would've come forward and told him myself. What if he rejected me in front of everyone? Do you know how long it would take for me to recover from that kind of humiliation?"

Riley walked backwards, raising her hands in surrender. "Fine, I give up trying to help you Maya." Riley stormed off to the bathroom to wash up and get ready for bed.

Ugh why did the world have to throw family, relationship, and friendship problems at her in one day? She bet the world was laughing at her now. How is it that at this point in Maya's life, school was less of a problem for her than anything else?

Maya yawned and checked the time. It was already 2:00 AM but Maya didn't care that she would have to get up in 5 hours for school; she was just ready for this day to be over. Maya grabbed her sketchpad and without thinking, started to draw the lamp on her nightstand.

"Maya can you please explain this to me?" Maya glanced up from her sketch and was confused at her stony expression. She drifted her gaze lower to what Riley was clenching in her hands.

"What was Lucas' baseball shirt doing lying on your bathroom floor?" Riley's voice grew hard.

Maya was confused as hell, _how the fuck did that end up here?_ The white shirt was covered in red and orange dust from the baseball field, leaving grimy stain marks.

Maya was horrified when she realized she couldn't lie or say it was hers or someone else's. Hell, she was about to use Zay as a scapegoat for a last resort but now she was eternally screwed. Lucas' name was printed in big bold blue letters.

FRIAR 09

Maya burned holes at the offensive shirt when she realized she hadn't said anything for a whole minute, signifying that her time to come up with something remotely convincing was over. Maya's muscles hardened and her body went into a shock; she could only gape at her like an idiot. Her mind was screaming at her to say something but she was stuttering, which only made her look guiltier.

Maya dropped her pencil and paper when Riley flung the shirt at her face, which was probably the second most violent thing Riley ever did after stuffing ice cream into her face.

Maya's mind flashed back to earlier today when Lucas smiled at her as he closed the bathroom door. _Oh shit._ How could she be so forgetful? She let him take a shower before he left because he rushed here after baseball practice without changing in short notice. Maya felt bad because he sacrificed showering in the locker room and spending time hanging out with his teammates.

How could she be so careless? She should've checked to see if he left anything in the bathroom before Riley came. _But also how could Lucas be so stupid?_ Maya thought bitterly. She should've known Ranger Rick was forgetful as fuck and would accidentally leave something behind. Plus, she didn't want his smelly old practice baseball shirt, right now she wanted to chuck it under her bed with other forgotten things or fling it at his face. Boy was she going to give him a piece of her mind tomorrow.

Now she realized just how bad this looked.

Riley was currently imagining the worst scenarios in her head and it got her riled up. She went to Maya's bathroom to finally brush her teeth, rinse her body, and change into her sleeping wear before she went to bed. But just as Riley was about to turn the shower on, she stepped on a shirt and tried to peel it off when it stuck to her foot. She was about to make a mental note to put it into the washer afterwards but as she was about to put it on the counter, she realized it was Lucas' baseball shirt.

"Riley I can explain," Maya pleaded. "It's not what it looks like, I swear."

Jealousy was the first thing that consumed Riley. She was jealous at first when she thought Lucas might've given it to her as a personal thing to wear, but then she realized it had orange dirt and immediately thought of Lucas taking at shower at Maya's place. Lucas never took showers at either of the girls' place, only Riley was the other person to shower here.

"It looks like Lucas showered here," Riley called it as plain as day.

"How long was that lying on your bathroom floor? A few days or a week?" Riley interrogated.

"It was only today," Maya responded quickly.

"Maya how long have you've been seeing Lucas?" Riley asked abruptly with a glitter of grave determination in her eyes.

Maya gaped at her friend. Was she delusional?

Maya shook her head, "Of course not! Huckleberry and I are not together."

"Then what compelled him to take a subway and walk several blocks out of his way just to take a shower at _your_ house?"

"Riley what are you implying?" Maya asked fearing for the worst response. Riley's eyes darkened in distrust and paranoia.

"I'm not naïve or as innocent as you make me Maya. You guys don't have to be together to…"

Maya realized what Riley was implying and she couldn't be more appalled in her life.

"I texted Lucas to come over afterschool to talk. He came here all sweaty and breathless because he just came out of baseball practice. I felt bad I gave him such a short notice because he didn't have the chance to shower or change at school, so I let him do it here. But it was only just this time," Maya added quickly.

Riley relaxed a bit when she heard Maya's explanation, but it still didn't dispel all the doubt in the back of her head.

"You still didn't answer my question. Why was he even here in the first place?" Riley's tone became less harsh, but her words were still laced with suspicion.

Maya was speechless and Riley finally put two and two together.

"He knows your dad came over at Topanga's earlier today?" Riley asked curiously. Maya nodded slowly, afraid a grenade was about to detonate.

"Is that why you want to avoid Lucas tomorrow?" Riley asked slowly, now knowing what to do with the truth.

"You think he's going to embarrass you because you didn't forgive your dad?"

Maya remained quiet while Riley was still trying to figure everything out. She wasn't 100% accurate but she was getting pretty damn close.

"Wait is that why you were ignoring my texts and calls? Because you were with him?"

Riley finally realized the startling the truth that Maya had preferred to seek out Lucas for help than her. She didn't know what to think at all. She wasn't sure if she felt hurt that she didn't come to her first or that she was jealous of Maya for spending time with Lucas.

"So you rather talk to Lucas then? Why did you hide from me Maya? You always used to come to me about your problems first." Riley's open expression started to slowly become guarded. Her hazel eyes weren't as innocent anymore and underneath her jealousy, her insecurities started to manifest.

"I will always go to you for help, it's just that this time was different. I needed to talk to someone who understood my situation and I immediately thought of Lucas because of his own relationship with his dad."

Riley's shoulders stiffened for the hundredth time that day.

"He told you about his dad?" Riley asked in disbelief.

Maya bit her lip because she didn't know what to say, but that was all Riley needed for confirmation. She couldn't believe Maya got Lucas to open about his personal life. No matter how hard she tried to pry it off of Lucas, he just wouldn't tell her about his troubled relationship with his father.

"It's just that we had that in common and I knew I could trust him with this." Maya finished and bit her lip nervously, afraid what her friend was going to say next. Riley fiddled with her hair, looking anywhere in the room but Maya, afraid that she was going to see her hurt expression.

"How long were you going to keep this from me?" Riley whispered.

"So much has happened today and I got caught up in my problems that I forgot to tell you tonight. I wasn't going to keep this a secret, I was going to tell you soon, because you're my best friend and I love you."

Maya got up and went to Riley to hug her, "Please don't be mad with me Riles. It was just this one time. I promise no matter how big or small my problems are I'll always go to you first."

Riley went slack in Maya's arms and slightly recoiled when Maya embraced her. Maya noticed Riley wasn't hugging her back and frowned. It was like she was a limp, rag doll. She was being unresponsive, unemotional, and stiff.

"Riles?" Maya asked tentatively.

"I think we should go to bed," Riley said stiffly after an awkward period of silence.

"Are we okay Riles?" Maya asked, afraid their friendship was heading towards a rocky terrain.

"It's fine. It's getting late and I'm tired," Riley said harshly. Riley went to bed, situating herself on the edge of the bed creating this chasm of space. With that Maya knew that it wasn't fine.

Maya turned off all the lights and they got under the covers. Maya turned her head towards her best friend and frowned when she realized Riley's back was turned against her. Maya couldn't see a tear roll down Riley's cheek, but she could sense something was wrong. The room was eerily quiet except for the noises of a sleepless Manhattan being muffled by her window. Maya wanted to move closer to her and say something, but she was afraid Riley was going to tell her to stop. She could feel the air thicken with unspoken words and Maya knew she wasn't going to get any sleep tonight because a million thoughts were running through her mind.

She couldn't help but think that today was one of the worst days of her life. She was only fourteen but she already hated her short miserable existence. Her mind wouldn't stop analyzing the disastrous confrontation with her dad and thinking about the million possibilities of what was in the pink bag he so desperately wanted her to have. She winced when she remembered her mom's expression to seeing her huddled on the floor in a heap of broken china.

Maya's night with Riley went relatively well at first but then quickly turned into the one of the worst fights they've had for a while. For most of the night Maya thought back on the argument they had about Lucas while Riley was sleeping peacefully. Maya found Riley's reaction really odd and confusing, something was going on with Riley and she didn't know what it was. She was acting differently and she always this restless look in her eyes. Not to mention, she looked like she was constantly waiting for someone to jump her. Maya realized Riley's usual bright self seemed to dim a little ever since Texas.

Maya's eyes were burning from the lack of sleep. It was probably 4:00 AM but she didn't bother looking. She couldn't tear her gaze away from the shirt lying crumpled on the floor next to her. Maya didn't know why but she felt a rush of comfort soothe her for a bit before the anxiety came back. For some reason, Maya thought Lucas made today a little bit better. With all the drama with Kermit and Riley, she realized she totally overlooked the brief time she and Lucas were talking on her bed.

Sure Lucas was the cause of half of her problems, but at this point she couldn't bring herself to care that much. But that still didn't mean that she wasn't going to avoid Lucas like the plague tomorrow. She was probably going to make a mad dash for the hills when he'll try to approach her.

Maya tried to think of something that'll calm her fears and lull her to sleep. She tried to think of horses and bunnies like Riley would do, but it didn't work. Maya then thought about the sunset of New York City's skylines and painting the cityscape from her fire escape. Gradually Maya's eyes were starting to droop and fatigue was sweeping over her like a wave. Right before her mind cusped the edge of sleep, she saw a pair of green eyes cackle with flames from a fire.

* * *

 **Who the hell says they're going to put Lucas in this chapter and doesn't do it? And who just leaves Lucas out for 3 chapters in a LUCAYA story?**

 ***raises hand shamefully* oh yeah, I do. I'm even mad at myself for not putting him physically here in this chapter! I know we all want to see his beautiful face, godamnt. But...NEXT CHAPTER I SWEAR he'll be in it. It just wasn't the right timing yet.**

 **I just quickly want to say I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH! To everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed my story in the past couple of weeks you guys really make me feel important and loved. Please keep on doing what you do!**

 **So I'm gonna give you guys an additonal treat for you guys for being so awesome. So quick explanation: my roommate (my beta) and I were going over the final tweaks to this chapter and we were both getting really frustrated that this chapter wasn't working for some reason. So it got really late and we were really tired. So it turns out that precisely after 2:00 AM we turn into weirdos, so my beta ended up writing an alternative ending to this chapter and let me tell you...we both couldn't stop crying for 30 minutes. Hope you guys find it fucking hilarious and not too ratchet :)**

* * *

 **AU: chapter 5**

Maya took a peek at Riley; her chest rose slowly. Riley was on the cusp of slumber, she tried to fight her heavy eyelids from drooping so she could hear Maya finish but alas she fell prey to the Sandman's will.

Maya couldn't take this shit any longer. "Bitch! Wake up! I need to tell ya something."

Riley was still was asleep so maya took out her gun and fired a shot.

Riley jumped up and was like, "Dafuq is wrong wid chu!? Da sandman is trying to put me to sleep!"

"Naw! You gawna listen to me."

FIN.

P.S. Maya fired another shot for good measure


	6. Chapter 6

**Happy Thanksgiving ya'll :) I'm grateful for you guys supporting this story!**

 **Please keep on rating/reviewing/favoriting/following!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World**

* * *

Maya flung open the front doors of John Quincy Adams Middle School and strutted in like she owned the place. All the students were staring at her, but Maya just smirked at them. Their gazes burnt a hole in her back as they carefully watched her head towards her locker like she was a piece of meat. The loud noises of the crowd lulled into faint whispers and then nothing. Maya opened her locker and ignored the sudden change in the atmosphere, but when she turned around, the once bustling hallway was empty. Maya frowned when she realized the lights in the hallway were dim too. Maya saw something move in the darkest corners of the school and she froze, was that a person?

The dark figure came out of the shadows and walked towards her.

"Maya."

Maya's mouth fell open, "dad?" she whispered. She blinked again for good measure to make sure it was really Kermit in the flesh. His lips quirked up into a hesitant yet brooding smile that made her feel uneasy.

"What are you doing here? I thought you left," she said suspiciously.

"He has to tell you something Maya," another voice chimed in.

It was feminine, warm, and familiar.

Maya spun around and was face to face with her best friend. Maya's posture relaxed when she saw Riley.

"Riley," Maya said in relief. "You scared the shit out of me!" a nervous chuckle escaped her lips but Riley's eyes wasn't twinkling with mischief. It was as dark as the shadows.

Riley took off her friendship bracelet and threw it at her face.

"I can't be friends with you anymore," Riley said robotically. Maya's heart started thumping loudly in her chest; this couldn't be happening to her could it? She thought she would never lose her best friend.

"What? I don't understand Riles, where is all of this coming from?"

"You're just not good enough for me Maya. You're selfish, clingy, and too desperate. I thought I could stay friends with you forever but I can't put up with your negative influence in my life."

Maya could hear her heart pounding in her ears; she would do anything to keep her friendship with Riley, even if it meant that she had to get down on her knees and beg.

"I'll change Riley, I swear I become a better friend. Just don't leave me alone!" Maya pleaded exasperatedly.

"All you do is mooch off of my family because you don't have a mom or a dad who wants to take care of you," Riley said harshly.

Tears were bitterly streaming down her face.

"Your dad left because you caused so much trouble when you were kid. He came back because he pitied you. We all pity you."

Her heart broke in two when she heard the startlingly truth. It hurt even more when she realized her best friend was the one to wedge that knife further into her heart. Every word that spilled out of her mouth sounded venomous and malicious.

"It's true," Kermit whispered and nodded his head affirmatively.

"This can't be happening to me right now."

Maya choked on her words when she saw Lucas stare at her with concern from across the hallway.

"Maya what's going on?" Lucas' sharp green gaze surveyed the tense area. His eyes darted back in forth between her, Riley, and her dad. His green eyes softened when they looked into her baby blues.

"Huckleberry?" Maya was really confused now. First her dad showed up, then Riley, and now Lucas. She didn't know what to think right now.

"Shortstack," he greeted warmly.

"Why are you crying?" Lucas wiped a couple of tears away with a swipe of his thumb. Maya looked into his gaze and felt secure in his grasp.

"We had to say some things she needed to hear Lucas," Riley said coldly.

Lucas and Riley exchanged cryptic looks that made Maya pull away from his hold. Lucas looked down at her guiltily and apologized to her with his sea foam eyes. Maya dropped his hands and took a step back.

"Do you have something to say to me Huckleberry?" Maya stared directly at him.

"Lucas come here," Riley demanded. Lucas slowly made his way to her and stood stiffly next to her. Riley wrapped her hand around his arm and pecked him on the cheek.

Maya's insides flipped inside out and she felt all her intestines float up into her chest in suspense, when she saw that Lucas didn't flinch or pull away. Maya thought she was strong enough to be ready for his rejection, but she was wrong. Completely wrong.

"I don't like you like that Maya," Lucas admitted.

His confession was probably the last thing that broke Maya's iron heart into thousands of pieces.

"So you led me on this whole time?" Maya's voice broke and sounded strangled.

"I'm so sorry," Lucas gave her a pleading look.

"So you're with Riley then?" Lucas hesitantly nodded.

Maya's head spun and she wanted to rip her hair out. She felt like someone was stomping on her heart and she felt like screaming until her throat bled.

Maya looked at the dad she barely knew and then at Riley, whose expression was unfamiliarly distant and distrustful, and finally at the first boy who broke her heart.

Maya dropped to the ground like a ragdoll and shivered on the cold floor. Lucas tried to shake her out of her panic attack but she pulled away screaming at him to not touch her. Lucas ignored her protests and hugged her tighter to his warm chest, whispering nothings in her ears that didn't help at all.

She couldn't focus on anything around her, all she could think of was those harsh words thrown at her face. Slowly, Maya's vision began to blur and fade.

Suddenly everything went black.


	7. Chapter 7

**Annndddd I'm back from New York! I'm really sad now that break's over :( plus finals are next week, gross.**

 **I'm sorry if last the last chapter was confusing, it was originally going to be a part of this chapter but I realized that this one was already too long and I didn't want to burn you guys out.**

 **This took so long to write! Gah, where did my Sunday go? Hopefully you guys enjoy it :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World, but if I did does that mean I get to keep Lucas all to myself?**

* * *

Maya thrashed wildly around in her sleep, causing Riley to wake up. She looked at Maya and saw that she had thrown off all of the blankets on the floor during the night. Her golden curls were spilled all over her face and some were caught in her mouth; Riley removed the strands and looked down at her in concern. Maya's face was twisted in agony and Riley wondered what kind of nightmare she had last night.

Riley felt bad that she couldn't soothe her friend from her dreams but she was still kind of angry with Maya. Riley could stay here and hold her hand for hours but wouldn't know what to say to her when she woke up. She honestly didn't know where they stood now because of the fight they had last night.

Riley got up and went to the bathroom to get ready for school. She took out the black floral dress and knee high socks from her overnight bag and proceeded to braid her hair. She came out to check on her friend but saw that she was still sleeping. Riley went over and covered her with the blanket on the floor and tucked it under her chin. She quickly set the alarm little bit later for Maya, figuring Maya didn't sleep until really late again last night, and quickly scribbled her a note to leave on her pillow so she would see it first thing when she woke up.

* * *

Maya woke up from her fitful sleep with a gasp, a light sheen of sweat covered her forehead from the feverish dream she had last night. She tried to remember what she had dreamt but the harder she tried to recall the bits and pieces, the worse the pounding in her head got.

Maya's bloodshot eyes snapped to the obnoxious and intruding beeping sound coming from her nightstand.

The alarm clock on had been ringing for twenty minutes and she slept through it the whole time.

Shit!

She was so late!

Maya threw the covers off her body and missed the warmth, feeling the chills of mid November sweeping in through the rickety cracks of her window, and into her stale bedroom.

 _Where the hell was Riley? Why didn't she wake her up if they were going to be late?_

Maya looked at the time again and shot out of bed, scrambling around to get ready. Maya ran around the room frantically and shoved all of her textbooks into her backpack. Papers were flying everywhere but she didn't care, she didn't even give a crap that she had stepped on all of her sketches on her floor.

Maya didn't have time to plan out what she was going to wear today, so she decided to skip out on looking remotely fashionable today. Fashion be damned. She didn't even have the motivation to do her hair since she was in such a hurry. Maya quickly shimmied into her skinny jeans and threw on an Arctic Monkeys Tee with a cream cardigan. She looked in the mirror and frantically ran her brush through her messy hair and winced every time it got caught on a tangle. She hated her hair; it was an absolute pain in the ass to manage. She groaned when she realized her eyes were all red from lack of sleep. The bags under her eyes made her look like a crazy woman. She ditched the makeup and checked her phone.

"Riley?" Maya called out.

Nothing.

Maya shouted this time but didn't hear any response; the apartment was completely silent.

Maya looked at the cold empty space on her bed and stared at it confusingly. Maya surmised that Riley hadn't been in bed for about a couple of hours now. Maya's gaze caught sight of a piece of paper on Riley's pillow that she didn't notice was there until now. Maya picked the note up and read Riley's dainty, cursive handwriting.

 _Maya,_

 _I'm sorry I couldn't be there when you wake up but I had to go back home to pick up Auggie and walk him to elementary school. I hope you slept a little longer when I left, I'll see you at school later._

 _P.S. Breakfast is on the counter waiting for you._

 _-Riley_

Maya's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, _she can't really be gone right now can she?_ Maya went to the kitchen to look around for the brunette but she wasn't there. The smell of eggs, bacon, and toast wafted through the whole apartment and made Maya's stomach growl.

Sure enough there was breakfast on the counter.

Maya scarfed down the food Riley made for her, put on a pair of booties, grabbed her book bag and left the apartment in a flurry.

* * *

When Maya made it into the hallway with about five minutes to spare, she just stood there for a good minute panting like a dog. When the pounding in her ears finally dulled a little, she looked around for Riley, but didn't see her anywhere until the crowd parted. Riley and Farkle were having a friendly discussion about math theories at the bottom of the stairs until Maya approached them.

Maya took a deep breath, wary of how Riley was going to act.

Farkle looked away from Riley when he caught a glimpse of Maya from the corner of his eyes. He smiled and stood up a bit straighter, "Lady," he greeted smoothly. Maya smiled, endeared by the fake pompous attitude he took every time she was around, so he can try to impress her.

"Hey Farkle," Maya smiled nervously. She glanced at Riley and noticed that she being was oddly quiet. When Maya spoke, Riley's stance tightened a bit, a little surprised that she snuck up on them. Riley's discomfort went unnoticed when she smiled at Maya.

"Hey Riles."

"Hi Peaches."

"How you doin'?" Farkle amped up the charm to about forty percent this morning. He winked at her, expecting to see Maya gag, but she just rolled her eyes playfully.

"Excuse me Farks, but I need to borrow Riley for a second," Farkle bowed and grabbed his science textbooks off the stairs.

"Riley, can I talk to you?" Maya turned to Riley seriously and grabbed her arm when she didn't respond. They bid Farkle a short goodbye when Maya gently pulled Riley to her locker so they could have some privacy.

"Are you okay Riley?" Maya started slowly. Riley nodded slowly, confused as to where Maya was going with this.

"I'm fine, why?" she said curtly.

"You didn't leave because you're still mad at me from our fight last night, right?"

Riley's stomach dropped, _how was she so intuitive?_ Riley didn't want Maya to know she was a little envious of her growing relationship with Lucas; if she found out, then the whole brother-sister façade she worked so hard to maintain would be ruined. Riley was about to rebuttal until she saw Lucas.

Maya looked at the brunette in confusion when she didn't answer, she didn't know what Riley was staring at until she turned around herself.

Lucas was a little apprehensive when he saw Maya. He was nervous about the whole situation, he texted her last night and left a voicemail, but she didn't respond to either one of them. He was even a bit disappointed when he woke up and didn't see any teasing text about his corny Texas joke. He even got to school a little early to find Maya, but he didn't see the blonde spitfire anywhere, until he turned a corner, and found the two best friends conversing at their lockers.

He was watching Maya for a while, waiting for her to lock gazes with him. When he mentally willed Maya to turn around, Riley caught his gaze and looked like a deer caught in headlights. Lucas smiled warmly at Riley but directed his gaze to Maya.

His lips quirked up in a half smile when he looked at her and Maya could feel gravity shifting her closer to him. She remembered what he said to her last night on her voicemail and felt little tingles shoot up her arms. When Lucas saw Maya's face soften a bit, he finally mustered up the courage to walk towards them. He shifted the backpack on his shoulder and confidently made his way through a sea of students.

When Maya saw him take one step forward, she felt like someone dumped a bucket of ice cold water on her. She had a horrible sense of déjà vu when she saw the concerning expression on his face; suddenly she wanted to leave a whole mountain of space between the both of them.

Maya felt like time was slowing down with every step he took. In that moment, she decided she would trust Riley to distract Lucas.

"Riley, remember what we said to each other last night?" Maya asked anxiously. Riley shook herself out of her daydreaming and turned to her.

"I know you're against it, but please don't tell Lucas anything."

"Maya-" Riley patronized her.

"Riley please, just do this for me," Maya pleaded.

Riley slightly panicked, "Even if I want to, I can't; we both know I'm the worst liar in the world."

When she realized Maya wouldn't budge, she felt a spike of irritation flare inside of her.

"Fine," Riley snapped.

Maya gave her a grateful look, "I promise I'll make it up to you," and walked away quickly in the opposite direction.

Lucas shook away the small feeling of disappointment when he realized he didn't get the chance to talk to her before school started. Lucas focused on Riley's face and smiled when they greeted each other.

He scratched his head bashfully, "Hey do you know how Maya's holding up?"

Riley's cheeks hurt from the forced smile she kept plastered on her face, "Oh Maya? She's doing just _dandy._ "

Lucas frowned by the tone of her voice; something was a little off, "Are you sure?"

Riley nodded her head fervently, "duh Lucas, how else would she be?" Riley punched his arm playfully but ended up hurting his shoulder.

Lucas removed her hand from his bicep and winced, "Ow, Riley, why do you keep on doing that?" Confused as to why she was suddenly getting physical with him ever since they came back from Texas.

"I don't know, why are you interrogating everything I do Huckleberry?" Riley chuckled nervously. Oh boy, was this going south pretty quickly.

"Did Maya put you up to this? Are the both of you now ganging up on me?"

"No why would she make me do something?" Riley's eyes twitched a little, every time she tried to dodge his line of questioning.

Okay something was definitely wrong.

"Riley," Lucas started but the school bell interrupted him.

Riley sighed in relief, "well time to get to class." Lucas frowned when she scrambled off too as soon as the bell rang.

What the hell was going on with everyone today?

* * *

Lucas had three classes with Maya so far. That means he had three chances to get her to talk to him, but he couldn't get a word out of her, not even a mild insult. He felt weird when she wasn't constantly teasing him with the nicknames; it just felt unusual to not be on the defensive all the time, which was why it was bothering him.

During French, Lucas scribbled her a note and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Shortstack," Lucas whispered from behind her. Maya ignored him for the billionth time that day.

"Maya why are you ignoring me?" Lucas was slowly grating on her nerves; she just wanted to focus on today's lecture for once in her life.

"Come on, you're not even going to call me Ranger Rick?" Lucas teased lightheartedly.

Maya clenched the edge of her desk until her knuckles turned white. God, she just wanted to tell him to shut the fuck up.

Maya turned around and glared at him, while Lucas smirked triumphantly.

So Maya did the next best thing, "what the hell do you want _Lucas_?" Maya growled.

He froze when she called him Lucas, that can't be good at all; shit he was royally fucked. He was still taken by surprise by how hostile she was treating him, he could literally feel the room drop about ten degrees.

"Stop trying to pass notes in class, Miss Hart. Next time I catch you distracting the class I'm sending you to detention," the teacher warned her sternly. Maya folded her arms petulantly and sunk in her chair, of course Lucas the Good wasn't going to be reprimanded for initiating it. She was actually trying to pay attention in class once in her life, but then he has to go and piss her off.

When the bell rang, Maya quickly grabbed her things and left, not bothering to wait for Lucas to catch up to her. Lucas flew out the door, ignoring the irritated glances he got from people when he tried to shove them out of the way.

"Maya!" Lucas called out. Since he was taller than majority of middle school students, he could see her trying to blend in amidst the crowd. Her blonde head became smaller as she was walking away from him, heading towards the other side of the school. Maya didn't turn around or acknowledge him; she just hugged the art textbook closer to her chest as she made her way to the last period before lunch. She didn't want anything to do with that Huckleberry right now.

* * *

Lucas couldn't pay attention in Algebra at all because of the blonde spitfire. He kept on thinking back to all the times they spent with each other recently and tried to think of something he did to piss her off, but he couldn't come up with one reason why Maya was avoiding him. He thought that they were finally taking a step forward in their relationship last night but it was like they took two steps back. He thought to the moment they had on the fire escape yesterday. He had wished her good luck with her dad and she smiled back at him, teasing him some more before he walked back home with a smile on his face.

Lucas scanned the cafeteria for her but didn't see her in the lunch line or sitting with Riley, Farkle, and Zay at their designated table. Lucas mechanically went in line to buy lunch and sat down next to Riley. He could tell that Riley recovered from whatever spell she was under this morning, now she smiling a little wider now at something funny Zay said. When Lucas scooted his chair closer to the table, everyone stopped their chatting and looked at Lucas weirdly. Even Zay had a brow raised in amusement.

After a moment of silence, Zay swallowed down his pizza. "What's up buttercup?" Zay said casually.

Lucas gruffed not much in response and everyone could tell he wasn't in a good mood.

"Well guess who has a stick up in their ass?"

"Zay," Riley admonished. Lucas just glared at him and told him that this wasn't the time to push his buttons.

"Are you upset because a certain someone hasn't been teasing you all day?" Lucas grit his teeth, by the looks of it they could tell that Zay was a walking dead man.

"Lucas are you okay? You just snapped your fork in half," Farkle pointed out in concern. Lucas stared at the plastic utensil in his hand in confusion, when did that happen? Zay didn't know why Lucas wouldn't just admit that he was grumpy because he hadn't talked to Maya all day. Zay got slightly irritated every time Lucas was being passive about his feelings, because he needed to get his ass up and try to find the blonde beauty.

"Yeah I'm fine," Lucas mumbled while he stared at the food on the tray.

Zay snorted, "bullshit. Just admit you're all butthurt because Maya doesn't want to speak to you."

Riley looked at Lucas in alarm, nervously poking holes in her brownie with a fork. Riley didn't really ever get to see this side of Lucas that much and was surprised by how much angrier he got every second Zay called him out on it. Farkle was just staring at his friends, confused as to why everyone was getting all worked up. Farkle shook his head; sometimes he doesn't think he'll ever understand human interaction.

"Sometimes you make me want to punch a wall Zay," Lucas refuted. Lucas stood up abruptly and looked at his friends.

"At least I'm not the one acting all weird today," Lucas pointed out at Riley.

"What's going on Riles?" Lucas asked bluntly.

Riley did a double take, "you've been acting all weird today and I know it's because you're keeping something from me."

"Lucas-" Riley tried to explain herself.

"Where's Maya? Why isn't she sitting with us?"

Riley shrugged, "I don't know where she is Lucas. I haven't seen her since this morning."

"I mean what's up with her?" Lucas demanded. Riley stuttered and tried to collect all her thoughts, she silently apologized to Maya because she doesn't know if she can keep this up any longer.

"It's not my place to tell you Lucas, you have to ask her yourself," Riley gulped. Lucas took his backpack off the chair and slung it on his shoulders.

Lucas looked at Zay with a hard glint to his green eyes, making him look more intimidating. "Fine I'll go find her, because apparently none of you guys care enough to check up on her."

Lucas pushed the untouched food on his tray towards Farkle, "here you can have my lunch I lost my appetite." Lucas pushed his chair in and glanced at Zay, "you happy now?" Lucas left the lunchroom abruptly, leaving a fresh air of awkwardness at the table.

Riley rubbed her temples, her head hurt from all this drama between her friends. She felt guilty that she didn't try to seek Maya out, but she wasn't ready to fight about Lucas again. Even Zay looked a little guilty for stepping out of the line.

Lucas looked in Mr. Matthew's classroom first, the stairs, and then the nurse's clinic, but couldn't find her anywhere. As he walked by the art room, he saw Maya sitting in the same spot she occupied in art class, painting something on a canvas. Lucas stopped in his tracks and slowly walked in, looking at all of the paintings that hung on the rack to dry but then at Maya's concentrated face. Lucas knocked on the door softly but she was too focused to notice he was there.

Lucas walked up to her stand and coughed lightly, "Maya," he called out gently.

Maya froze during mid-stroke and tucked the hair that had fallen in her face behind her ear. Maya didn't realize that her hands were covered in paint so she left blue streaks in her hair, which made Lucas smile a little. However he felt uneasy by the cold look she gave him.

"What are you doing in here Lucas? I was kind of in the middle of something."

"You weren't at lunch today Maya."

"Yeah I know, I was in here obviously, trying to finish up a project," Maya motioned towards her painting. Clearly Huckleberry wasn't getting the picture.

Lucas rolled his eyes, god he forgot how difficult she could be. "You've been avoiding me," Lucas said flatly.

Maya shook her head, "I haven't been avoiding you," the lie fell straight through her teeth.

"Then why did I see you talking to Riley and Farkle this morning, but not me?"

"The world doesn't always revolve around you Huckleberry," Maya snorted. _How much bigger can his ego get?_

Lucas crossed his arms, "So now you're calling me names."

"If you came here just for me to make fun of you, you need to get a life and a better source of entertainment."

"I came here because I want to know why you're laughing at me and teasing me one day but then act like I don't exist the next," Lucas asked calmly, telling himself not to get too worked up.

Maya ignored him and went back to painting. Lucas took the brush out of her hands and her paints off the desk to get her to pay attention. Maya looked at him angrily, "why are you so goddamn annoying? Just mind your own freakin' business."

"Because we got along so well up until this point. You even opened up to me these last couple of weeks and now you're trying to shut me out again. Was it something that I did?" Maya bit her lip, unsure of what to say.

Maya sighed in defeat, "No, it's just that I didn't sleep well last night, so I don't have the tolerance to put up with your corny Texan personality today."

Lucas relaxed a little when he realized that he didn't do anything to upset her. However he wasn't fully convinced, something was still wrong. "Why did you lash out at me earlier then?"

"Because you were distracting me in class," Maya offered lamely.

Lucas gave her an incredulous look; "you actually wanted to pay attention in class?" Lucas went up to her and placed a hand on her forehead, pretending to check the temperature.

"Where's Maya and what have you done with her?" Lucas teased. Maya blushed and felt her forehead burn from his touch. She smacked his hand away and looked at the floor.

"You almost got me detention again, you butthead."

Lucas chuckled, "yeah sorry about that." They didn't say anything for a while until Lucas spoke up.

"Hey how did everything go with your dad last night?" Lucas asked tentatively while Maya's hands started to sweat. This was the reason why she avoided Lucas like the plague. She went through all that trouble because she didn't want him to know that she didn't try to forgive her dad.

When she looked into his hopeful gaze she realized that he had complete utter faith in her to the point where it made her nauseous. She didn't want to end up disappointing Lucas too along with the Matthews if she told him the truth, so she settled with what she was good at; lying.

"Everything went fine." Maya looked at Lucas wondering if he bought the lie.

"Just fine?" Lucas pressed.

"It wasn't supposed to be a lifetime movie reunion where we all cry and hug it out," she pointed out sarcastically.

Lucas nodded, "yeah you're right. I'm glad things weren't a disaster," Lucas smiled. Maya gulped, _except that it was._

"So is that it?"

"What?" Lucas asked.

"Are you finally done interrogating me?"

Lucas smirked, "For now."

Maya relaxed in her seat, "okay so I guess you can go now," Maya shooed him away with her hand but glared at him when he pulled up a stool right beside her.

"Not yet shortstack, you can't get rid of me that easily."

"Unfortunately," Maya muttered bitterly.

Lucas chuckled, "Seriously shouldn't you go back to lunch? Riley, Farkle and Zay are probably wondering where you are."

"They know I'm here, I told them that I was going to find you."

"I'm not letting you drag me to the cafeteria, I'm staying here to finish up my painting, so try me. I'm not leaving without a fight," Maya threatened. Lucas laughed at her threat, shaking his head.

"I know that, shortstack."

"Don't you want to hang out with them? I know lunch is your thing, I won't get offended if you decide to leave."

Lucas still didn't budge from his spot, "Seriously, I don't need any supervising."

Lucas shrugged, "I don't really want to go back, I'm kind of irritated at Zay."

"Why?" Maya asked, her interest suddenly piquing. Lucas' face heated up when he thought back to the argument he had with Zay about Maya in the lunchroom.

"Just pushing my buttons again," Lucas' ears flushed in embarrassment.

Maya snorted, "Even when I'm not there to antagonize you, I can always count on Zay to make fun of you." Maya grabbed her brush and paints that Lucas had set aside to continue where she had left off.

"Yeah but it's definitely not the same," Lucas grinned at her.

Maya bit her lip to keep herself from smiling, "oh really?"

"Who else is supposed to call me Ranger Rick, Huckleberry, Sundance, and Bucky McBoingBoing?" Maya tried to stifle her laughter when Lucas held up his hand and used his fingers to count how many nicknames she had given him.

"And Ranger Roy when filling in for Ranger Rick," Lucas added.

"So is this your cryptic way of telling me that you miss me making fun of your Texas roots?"

"It wouldn't be normal if you didn't. It's too quiet without you always hahurring in my face." Maya dipped her brush in one of the palettes and went up to Lucas. Lucas shielded his face from her attack, but she held one of his arms down and painted a long blue streak on the inside of the arm.

Maya went really close to his face and triumphantly yelled, "Hahurr!" She was so close to him that she could see that his green eyes had specks of brown in his iris.

Maya stepped back to observe her artwork and burst into laughter. He quickly took one of the dirty paintbrushes from some murky water and shook it in her face. Maya's face scrunched up in disgust.

"Ew that's paint water!" she squealed. She grabbed the blue paintbrush and dipped it into a big glob of paint, preparing to paint the shit out of him.

"Prepare for revenge Huckleberry!" Before Maya charged and cried out a war chant, Lucas intercepted her and picked her up, lifting her on his shoulders.

"Bet you never could see that high up before, shortstack. How's the view?"

"Haha make fun of my height you big oaf," with that Maya slapped his lower back causing Lucas to teeter a bit.

"I don't think I can hold you up there anymore, oh god my hands are slippery, I think I'm gonna drop you," Lucas pretended to fall forward with her lying face down on his shoulder.

Maya panicked and clutched his shirt, "don't you dare Huckleberry!"

"Okay I'll let you down."

Maya sighed in relief, "under one condition."

Maya paused, "how about you put me down and I won't kick your Cowboy ass all the way back to Texas?"

Lucas chuckled, "alright if you say so." Lucas took his hand off her lower back that had kept her steady on his shoulder. When she felt the warmth on her back disappear she slightly panicked, because now it was just her trying to balance on his shoulder, one hand clutching his neck and the other clutching a paintbrush.

"Fine! You win! What is it?"

"I get to paint shortstack on your forehead."

"Are you kidding me? Hell no!"

"Maya, you can't stay up here forever," Lucas chuckled darkly.

"Okay I'll do it! You damn Huckleberry," Maya huffed. Lucas gripped her tightly and slowly let her down. Maya shut her eyes tightly but opened them slowly when she felt her feet touch the ground. Maya didn't realize she was still grasping onto the front of shirt and had her head buried into his chest.

Maya could feel Lucas laugh when she didn't let go and Maya stepped back with her face burning. "I can't believe everyone fell for your goody two shoes façade, you're such a dick."

"Say anything you want to me Maya but I'm not the one who has to write shortstack on my forehead for the whole school to see." Maya folded her arms in her chest and pouted.

"That's not fair, you don't get to call all the shots."

Lucas caved in when she stuck her bottom lip out, "fine you're allowed to paint one thing on me, fair?" Maya gave him a mischievous look but stuck her hand out.

Lucas groaned when he saw that look in her eyes, "I'm going to regret my decision later, aren't I?"

"Yup and you can't back out, so let's shake on it." Maya's wet hand got blue paint all over his when they shook. Lucas didn't let go of her hand and grasped onto it a little longer. Maya's hand tingled and she wiggled her fingers in front of his face to show she just tricked him.

Lucas rolled his eyes and turned around to get another brush and some paint. When he turned around there was a big upside down blue handprint on the back of his shirt. It finally dawned on her that she did that when she slapped him on the back a couple of moments ago. Lucas heard Maya snicker and spun around, paranoid that she was already planning something else. Maya covered her mouth to cover up her laughter.

Lucas smirked when she got paint around her mouth, but decided not to say anything. Lucas sauntered over and wet one of the brushes. "So what color would you like it to be?"

Maya glared at him, "blue it is then, since you've got a lot on your face already." Lucas cradled her face gently with left hand to keep her still while he wrote on her forehead. He brushed the hair that kept falling on her face and blew a small tuft of air so the paint would dry.

"I'd say this is better than Picasso," Maya rolled her eyes and motioned for him to hand the brush over to her.

"My turn."

"Maya I swear if you draw a phallic symbol on my face-" Lucas warned.

"Chill your tits Huckleberry, I'm not, even though it would be fitting," she smirked, "give me your arm."

"I said you could only paint one thing on me Maya."

"Don't worry I'll make it look pretty," Maya grabbed his arm and started on her piece.

"You can't look though," Maya turned his face to look up at her. "It's a surprise."

It only took Maya about less than ten minutes to finish; throughout the entirety he just studied her face. He took in the slight frown that would mask her delicate features whenever she made a mistake or crinkled her brow when she was concentrating.

"Tada!" Maya ran to the sink to soak the brushes and clean up her station before the lunch period was over. Lucas peeked down and laughed.

"You painted a whole mural on my arm Maya!" His arm had the words: Mad Dawg, which was painted in black and surrounded by flowers, undermining the macho street name.

"Well you always said that you wanted me to call you Mad Dawg," Maya shrugged. Lucas got up and went to the sink to help her clean up.

"Here I got it," Lucas took the brushes out of her hands and side bumped her with his hips to tell her to scootch over. He was intently scrubbing off the cups when Maya suddenly splashed him in the face with cold water.

"Oh sorry, you had a little something on your face," Maya smirked. "That's for not telling me I had paint on my mouth." Lucas chuckled, figured that she had checked her reflection just a moment ago to observe his handiwork.

"Don't start something you can't finish," Maya just stuck her tongue out at him in a childish manner.

While they were goofing off in the art room, Riley was walking around school trying to look for both Maya and Lucas. After Lucas had left, she realized she was acting like a bad friend the whole morning and let her feelings for Lucas get in the way of her being supportive for Maya. Riley was about to give up looking for them until she heard laughter coming from around the corner. Riley smacked her head, _of course Maya would be in the art room!_ As she made her way there, she heard that Maya wasn't alone. It looked like Lucas did find Maya and really worked things out because they were laughing and passing affectionate looks between each other.

Riley didn't go inside or tried to interrupt, she stayed hidden on the outside of the door but peeked her head in a little to see clearly. They were too distracted by other's presence that they didn't see Riley eavesdropping on them.

Riley recoiled a bit when Lucas grabbed Maya's face, "you still got a little paint here shortstack." He ran a paper towel under the sink and dabbed the paint off. He used his thumb to gently rub the blue residue off her chin and off the corners of her mouth. Riley wanted to walk away because she didn't want to see what was going to happen next but she was glued to her spot. For some reason, Riley wanted to make sure nothing was going to happen between them.

Riley saw Maya freeze when she realized how close he held her to him. Lucas didn't let go of her and Maya was reminded of the time he caressed her face in front of the campfire. The bell rang, signaling that lunch period was over. Lucas took a big step back and scratched the back of his head when he got nervous. They both didn't say anything while they were packing up to leave, but Maya smiled at him when he helped her put the art supplies away and grabbed her bookbag for her on the way out.

Riley didn't stay to see the rest and decided to walk away, feeling torn apart. Riley peeked over her shoulders and sighed gratefully when she saw that they didn't make anymore physical contact. When they stepped out it was if nothing happened between them back there, but as they made their way towards History class, they both couldn't stop grinning.

* * *

 **Tada! Lucas finally showed up! And I even added the extra fluffy part at the end because we need a small break on the angst, am I right?**

 **Tell me what you guys think of this chapter! Was it too cheesy, fluffy, or dramatic? Let me know :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Gutentag! I have come to give you chapter 8! Yay *does happy dance***

 **So here's the thing: I have final exams next week, literally three days in a row. So I won't update until next weekend because I'll be throwing myself into my textbooks. Sorry guys, it's just life *shrugs***

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Girl Meets World but if I did does that mean I get to keep Lucas all to myself?**

* * *

When Maya and Lucas approached Mr. Matthew's classroom, they saw Zay, Farkle, and Riley chatting amiably outside the door. Zay was the first one to spot the pair covered in paint and snickered.

"Did the two of you just roll around in paint? Why wasn't I invited?"

Farkle quirked an eyebrow, "Maya, what does that say on your forehead?"

They all scrutinized the pair's messy appearance. "We know that you're short Maya, but now you're making it too easy for us to make fun of your height," Zay chuckled.

Maya glared at Zay's amused expression and Lucas' smug look. "Why don't you guys just marry each other already since you both like to make fun of me?" Maya growled.

Lucas turned around and laughed, "Are you suggesting that you're the victim? Your favorite hobby includes antagonizing me on a daily basis. In fact, you and Zay both like to gang up on me!"

"Spare me your feelings, Moral Compass," Maya rolled her eyes.

"Aw is someone getting butthurt all of a sudden?" Lucas pinched her cheek. They all laughed except for Riley, who stood staring at her feet awkwardly.

Maya smacked him in the stomach and was irked when he didn't even flinch; he just chuckled at her poor attempt. Zay looked between the both of them and noticed the way Lucas looked totally relaxed. At first, he was worried that Lucas was still mad at him for putting him on the spot earlier, but it seemed as if he forgot all about it with the blonde standing next to his side. Zay was glad that Lucas got over his sulky attitude and was laughing again. Zay had to thank Maya later because no less than thirty minutes ago, he was about to become the Hulk.

"So it seems like Mr. Moody Pants is gone and Lucas is back. Good job Maya, for putting him back together. I thought I wasn't going to see another day."

Maya glanced at Lucas, confused by what he referring to. "Was it that serious Huckleberry?" Before Lucas could deny that her disappearance had affected him that much, Mr. Matthews peeked outside the door.

"You guys have one minute 'til the bell," Mr. Matthews warned and ducked back into the classroom.

Farkle headed inside, "I'll see you guys in a few."

As Lucas was about to follow Farkle inside, Zay stopped him and pulled him back slightly. "Hey Lucas, I know I kind of stepped over the line back at lunch, and I'm sorry," Zay apologized sincerely.

Lucas wasn't even mad at Zay anymore but appreciated the apology, "thanks Zay, but I'm fine now."

"I know, I'm just glad you and Maya are talking again," Zay chuckled when he watched Lucas' gaze quickly dart to the girl they were referring to. Maya sensed his gaze on her and looked towards them, her eyes fixating on the cowboy. It felt like a long time when they held gazes but the trance was broken when she turned back to Riley. Zay knew Lucas wasn't listening to a word he was saying so he just waved a hand in front of his face.

"Hey are you listening? My face is here."

"Yeah, sorry," Lucas didn't even look like he was sorry. Zay didn't take any offense but smiled to himself when he realized just how much of a sap Lucas was with Maya. He just didn't know it yet. They both strolled through the door as Zay clapped him on the back. _Man this guy was whipped_ , Zay thought to himself.

Maya watched them walk inside but turned around to face her best friend, who was being oddly quiet for most of the day. The hallway became eerily quiet and Maya was hesitant to say anything.

"So it seems like you and Lucas made up after all," Riley said solemnly.

"Yeah I guess we did," Maya said uncomfortably.

"How did Lucas get you to talk to him?" she asked with a hardened voice, recalling how surprised she was when she saw the two teasing each other again back in the art room. She was curious as to what Maya had said to him before she found Lucas grasping Maya's face. Riley tried to erase the image from her mind as she looked at Maya shift her feet nervously.

"He just came to the art room to hunt me down. I don't know, he can be very persistent when he wants to be," Maya chuckled uneasily. Riley didn't crack a smile at her attempts to be lighthearted and casual.

"I told you he would be understanding of your situation, what did he say when you told him about your dad?" Maya looked away guiltily, biting her lip; fear was splayed out on her face when Riley looked at her suspiciously. Suddenly Riley knew that Maya didn't tell him at all.

"You didn't tell him, did you?" Suddenly Riley was sick of acting all passive and indifferent.

"He doesn't know yet," Maya said sheepishly. At least she didn't try to come up with an excuse this time.

"Yet? Oh, so you really were planning on telling him eventually? When was that going to be?" A hard yet subtle glint took over Riley's doe eyes.

"Riles-" Maya reached for her arm but Riley stepped back.

"Don't Riles me, I can't believe you dragged me into this by begging me to lie to him. Now I have to carry your secret around too. I couldn't even look him in the eye all day Maya, and he's my friend! I felt so guilty every time I tried to cover for you."

"I'm sorry Riley, I felt bad making you do that. I just couldn't tell him."

"If you're really sorry, then tell him the truth," and with that Riley spun around and marched into the classroom. Maya sighed heavily when her cocoa curls whirled past her. She stood there by herself, dreading to cross over the threshold. She was thinking about skipping last period and taking the subway home early, so she could just crawl back into her bed and hide under her covers. But if she ran, it would look like she had something to hide. Maya tilted her chin up and tried to walk in confidently but wavered under Lucas' expectant gaze. She tried to smile back as if everything was fine, but she knew she probably grimaced instead.

Everyone turned their heads toward Maya and Lucas, transfixed on Lucas' arm and Maya's forehead. They were amused, but nevertheless it unnerved Maya when she felt all eyes on her, including Mr. Matthews' dumbstruck expression.

"Ms. Hart and Mr. Friar, can you tell the class why the two of you look as if you stepped out of a paint war?"

"I was just teaching Maya here a lesson," Maya could hear the smirk in Lucas' voice. Maya itched to turn around and fire back like they always do but she couldn't muster up the energy to when she saw Riley's dead expression.

"It doesn't seem like you won though, Mad Dawg," Maya retorted back but didn't feel any sense of pleasure when the class laughed at their banter.

"Okay now that you guys have had your entertainment for the day, let's move on," Mr. Matthews tried to get the class' attention geared towards History.

"Are we going to talk about Belgium, 1831?" Farkle asked hopefully.

Mr. Matthews shook his head, "not today Farkle. We're going to go over the Forgiveness Project and share what we learned from this experience." Maya's heart started thumping loudly in her chest.

"Let's start off with Darby, then we'll go around the class." Everyone went around the room sharing who they chose to forgive, why, how they felt about it, and if forgiveness worked out for them in the end. Majority of the class had positive outcomes from the Forgiveness Project, which would normally fill Maya with an unnecessary sense of hope, but today she just couldn't feel anything else besides numbness. Some students shared really personal stories and some others had lighthearted experiences. When Lucas and Zay forgave Farkle for ruining the end of movies, Farkle lamented how he doesn't feel like he's good enough to be friends with them.

Lucas and Zay had the decency to look guilty and apologized, which distracted Maya from her remorseful thoughts for a bit. When it was Riley's turn, Maya stared at her friend for the entirety but noted that she didn't bother to look at her once so far. Maya felt a little peeved when Riley was making a big deal of Auggie tearing her favorite stuffed animal, while she had a shit ton of problems to deal with. She wished she could forgive someone for doing something so trivial.

"Maya could you tell us who you forgave?" Maya's gaze snapped up to her teacher, shaking herself from her daze. She schooled her features to look calm, but on the inside there was a huge storm of chaos ensuing inside her empty stomach. _Shit, I'm not ready yet._

"My dad," Maya gulped and Lucas reached over and gently squeezed her shoulders. Maya couldn't relish in his warm touch, when she felt guilty that he was comforting her while she had lied to him.

"Maya could you elaborate more for us please?" Mr. Matthews urged her to speak after she turned silent again.

"He showed up yesterday and we talked over dinner," she lied.

"That's great that he came so you could talk to each other face-to-face, but can you tell us how you forgave him?" Mr. Matthews inquired, confused as to why she wasn't saying anything since everyone else had shared a lot.

Maya felt everyone looking at her silently while the only sound that could be heard was from the ticking of the clock. She felt Riley's gaze burning holes into her head and looked up to meet her gaze. They only held gazes for a millisecond before Riley turned back around. Riley's quietness and slumped shoulders spoke volumes to Maya. She knew her best friend like the back of her hand. Riley was really disappointed in her, to the point where she couldn't even look at her. Maya's heart sank; she just wanted her friend to smile at her again.

Maya glanced at Mr. Matthew's expectant gaze and felt there was a block of cement on her shoulder where Lucas' hand rested. She heard the ticking noise as it became louder and louder. Her ears felt like they were going to bleed with every tick reminding her there wasn't that much time left for her to decide whether to continue with her lie. Maya gave Riley and Cory a remorseful look but then sat up a little straighter. _You can do this Hart, don't be a coward, you're doing this for Riley_ , Maya thought.

"I didn't forgive him. He came over to tell me he couldn't stay for dinner."

Cory mentally did a double take, confused as to why Maya had said she had forgave him only a couple of seconds ago. "What was that Ms. Hart?" Cory asked again for confirmation.

"I kicked him out," Maya said flatly.

Mr. Matthews looked at her with pity, his heart breaking for his second daughter.

"The worst part was that I still couldn't forgive myself after all of that. He broke so many promises and then comes up with excuses. I worked hard on making everything perfect for him, but he went back to his other family," Maya stated bitterly.

"Maya you told me everything went fine with your dad last night," Lucas said bewilderingly behind her. Maya turned around and looked him in the eye.

"I obviously lied to you Huckleberry, keep up with the program," she said harshly with the intent on ending their terse conversation.

Lucas' hurt expression slowly morphed into irritation and his light green eyes darkened ten shades. This was the first time Lucas didn't look even remotely amused when she called him a nickname. Maya stood up, grabbed her stuff, and looked Mr. Matthews in the eye.

"I'm sorry that I've disappointed you, I just couldn't forgive him and I don't think I ever will." With an air of finality, Maya ran out of the classroom, ignoring all the bizarre looks she received from her classmates. Cory didn't even try to stop her and give her detention for leaving in the middle of class. When Maya left the classroom, everyone stayed frozen in their positions, astonished by the drastic turn of events. This was probably one of their most dramatic class yet. Riley even looked slack jawed since she wasn't anticipating Maya's confession. Well no one did.

Lucas sat there silently brooding, grinding his teeth together in irritation, a horrible habit he never got rid of. Lucas stood up and looked at Mr. Matthews, "Permission to find Maya sir?" he asked politely.

Cory nodded and motioned him to follow Maya out the door. Lucas looked at Zay and he nodded back, silently telling him that he was doing the right thing. Lucas strode out the door while Riley staring at him forlornly. Riley was about to offer to go after Maya but Lucas cut her to the chase, but for some reason when she looked at his determined expression she couldn't help but feel defeated.

Maya went to the art room to retrieve her unfinished painting and a few paints so she could finish it at home. She dejectedly packed everything up, looked at the clock, and sighed. In about an hour she would be home holding a tub of ice cream, while she tried to eat all her troubles away. This thought soothed her a bit.

Maya didn't turn around when she heard footsteps catching up behind her. Maya didn't want to deal with another talk with Riley right now; she knew she would tell her that she was right all along, which would only serve to make her feel guiltier. Maya decided to cut to the chase, so she could go home early.

"You were right Riley. It was wrong of me to lie; I know that. You don't need to tell me I told you so," Maya said dejectedly.

"Then why did you do it?" Lucas asked from behind.

Maya jolted and spun around to face him, not expecting him to follow her out of the classroom. "What the hell are you doing here Lucas?"

"Why did you lie to me Maya?" Lucas pushed, ignoring her irritated expression.

"I don't want to talk to you right now. So just do us both a favor and leave," Maya pointed towards the door. Lucas crossed his arms in front of his chest, not budging from his spot.

"Like hell I'm going to leave," Lucas growled. "Why did you lie to me?" He demanded again.

"I don't owe you or anyone else on this fucking planet an explanation. So butt out," she fumed.

"I'm your friend Maya. Believe it or not, I care about you. So get over this whole cold bitch attitude, because it's irritating as fuck," angry that she was being so stubborn.

Maya gaped at him; she couldn't believe he just called her a bitch for the first time. Maya clenched her fists in anger, "Hey asshole, watch yourself! I'm not your responsibility, so stop treating me like I'm your girlfriend, it's bullshit." She went up to him and shoved him hard in the chest.

Maya tried to knock him off his feet but he stood firmly in place. Maya fumed when she realized that her violent attempts were futile; Lucas didn't even look dazed. Lucas grabbed ahold to both of her hands when she started punching his chest; if he weren't so upset, he would've laughed and teased her about how tiny she was.

"Maya I'm not mad that you lied to me. I'm upset that you couldn't trust me," Lucas looked directly in her eyes to get her to listen.

"Don't touch me," she ripped her hands out of his and ignored the loss of warmth.

"You need to stop running away when life gets a little tough." Lucas criticized.

Maya ignored the fact that what he was saying was true, she would rather have hell freeze over than admitting the Moral Compass was right. Maya felt her irritation piquing at an all time high; she hated his self-righteous crap he was preaching.

"What do you know about that? You moved here to escape your father and the people at school in Texas who didn't think you were Mr. Perfect. You might've fooled the whole school into believing that you're this handsome Prince, but I see right through that crap," Maya jabbed her finger into his chest.

Lucas knew Maya was trying to piss him off, but it didn't stop him from reacting. "Me? What about your rebellious and 'I don't give a damn what happens to me' attitude? It's going to come back and bite you in the ass someday. So don't go acting as if you're not as bad as me."

"Get this into your tiny brain of yours, Huckleberry: we're not friends. You're not entitled to demand answers from me. If I don't want to tell you anything about my life, I don't have to," she countered. She took a step towards him menacingly, to prove her point.

"Why are you so goddamn stubborn?" Lucas asked through grit teeth.

"Why are you so fucking annoying?" she shot back. Their faces were so close together that Maya could feel Lucas' hot breath on her forehead. She stared at him and noticed his eyes were a swirl of dark and light green. She faltered a bit when she quickly glanced at his lips but felt like kicking herself when she realized her hormones were telling her to crash her lips against his. Lucas saw her quickly glancing at his mouth and watched her lick her lips, trying to fight the urge to touch her again.

"Lucas?" a quiet voice squeaked out from the doorway.

The little bubble they were in just popped.

Lucas spun around and saw that the intimidated voice belonged to Darby. "Mr. Matthews was wondering when you were coming back," Darby said nervously, worried that she might've interrupted something between them from happening.

"Can you tell him I'll be back in a couple of minutes?" Lucas gave her a charming smile and she blushed. Darby noticed that there was only an inch of space between them, when Maya saw the look she gave them; she took a huge step back.

"Okay," Darby said shyly and darted back towards History class. Maya rolled her eyes when Darby swooned at Lucas' smile. _Unbelievable._ She hated that he knew he was attractive.

Lucas watched Darby's retreating form and felt his temper slowly sizzling away. He was so caught up in their fight that his anger almost got the better of him. He never thought one person alone would make him feel insanely happy one minute and then pissed off the next. When Lucas turned back to her, he saw Maya eased back on her defensive stance. Whatever angry mood they were in suddenly came crashing down with Darby's arrival.

"Maya look at me," Maya reluctantly obeyed and was caught in his stormy gaze again.

"I'm not going to push you for answers anymore, I don't want to lose you for good," Lucas said resolutely.

"I want you to trust me and meet me halfway. I can't always go looking for you when you run away from me." Maya furrowed her eyebrows, confused by the sudden change of tone. _Does this mean that he was giving up?_

"When you're ready to talk to me, I'll be there," Lucas walked to the door trying hard not to turn around and catch a glimpse of her. Lucas knew he had many weaknesses but somehow it intensified every time she looked his way. Maya had a bitter taste in her mouth after sprouting all those words to him, it didn't fill her with any sense of pleasure; now she felt a little bit remorseful. She hated that her heart cracked a little every time she saw him walk away from her. She already missed his warmth and presence beside her even though he was only standing a few yards away.

Lucas had to prevent himself from going back to her and smooth those worried lines away. His heart tugged in his chest when she blinked at him dejectedly with her baby blues. Maybe it was his pride or the fear of getting his feelings hurt again, but he finally found the will to walk away from her.

Maya should've been relieved when he left, because now she had the space that she needed. She should've been glad that he wasn't pressing his nose in her business, but for some reason she wanted him back beside her. Since the first day they started playing their game, Maya got a little thrill every time he fired back with just enough sarcasm and wit to match her own. There was never a clear-cut winner in their game, but for the first time since they've met, Lucas let her win.

But why did it feel like she just lost?

* * *

 **Sorry for the angst but it had to happen! Let me know what you guys think!**

 **As always thanks for reviewing, favoriting, following, etc.!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Finally back from finals week! Woohoo! Now I can update more frequently over break, ugh finally. Again, apologies for the long wait, I usually post twice a week but I haven't updated in almost 15 days and that's a new record for me.**

 **Important Notice: I currently just started writing a new Lucaya fanfic that's called _The Child of Love,_ it's complete complete AU because it's a Greek mythology story with demigods and Percy Jackson type stuff! So if you're into that please go check it out and support the story! Plus who wants to see Maya kicking ass as a Demigod? I do!**

 **Now onto the story! Allons-y!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own GMW but if I did I would totally keep Lucas to myself ;)**

* * *

It's been over a week since Maya talked to Lucas.

He barely got to see her outside of school and it was driving him crazy. He couldn't keep count of how many times she'd had the opportunity to approach him, but didn't. He had almost admitted defeat and caved in on his promise, he wanted to do anything to get her back; he had even considered begging at one point because he couldn't take it. Every time they'd see it each other at school, it was awkward as hell. Even Zay couldn't stop himself from cringing.

At first Lucas expected her to avoid him for a couple of days, but then a couple turned into several, and then several turned into a week. He was patient for the most part and gave her space like he had promised to, but as more time has passed, he was getting increasingly anxious and snappy. He had even felt bad for his friends for getting the short end of the stick lately, he knew that they were all tiptoeing around the situation and were wary of mentioning Maya around him. Well everyone with the exception of Zay.

"Hey Friar!" Zay waved a hand in front of Lucas' face.

Lucas snapped out of his thoughts and looked at him sharply, "what?"

"I was talking to you, this is the third time you zoned out," Zay shook his head in amusement, knowing what his friend was thinking about just a second ago. Lucas looked away from the cafeteria door and stared at his food blankly.

"Are you hoping that a particular blonde will walk through those doors?" Zay asked curiously. Lucas didn't say anything, irritated that his friend could read him like a book. Lucas turned his attention to Riley and Farkle in the lunch line, Riley sensed his gaze and smiled at him. Lucas' heart warmed when he looked at her, but for some reason it didn't get his heart pounding like before. If Lucas had to give someone credit for calming him down this week, it was the doe-eyed brunette. He was thankful that she didn't bring Maya up often or point out he was upset because of her, she just distracted him by asking him about his life in Texas. But every time he talked about his first home, he couldn't help but think about how Maya would react. He knew she would roll her eyes and snort at him or call him heehaw.

"So you're not gonna say anything huh? Fine, you might be able to ignore me, but you can't ignore what's bothering you forever," Zay pointed out. Lucas was about to break another fork until Riley and Farkle were hovering over their table. Riley pursed her lips when she looked at Zay, warning him to shut it. Zay saw she was attempting to threaten him and decided to back down since her gaze was starting to unnerve him.

Riley smiled sweetly at Lucas and gave him her juice carton, "for practice afterwards, don't dehydrate yourself."

Lucas quirked a smile at her, "thanks Riles."

"Anything for me?" Zay asked hopefully.

"How about a foot in your mouth?" Riley glared at him. Lucas laughed at Zay's stunned look, obviously not expecting the sarcastic remark; even Farkle emitted a low chuckle.

When Lucas laughed, everyone relaxed. They were all relieved that they finally got him to loosen up a little, Riley's mood shot up a considerate amount since she was the one to make Lucas laugh again. Lucas didn't even notice that Riley had moved her hand over his arm and squeezed it.

All of a sudden the light atmosphere became tense when Maya walked through the doors. Lucas stopped laughing and immediately sought out the blonde. Lucas noticed she wasn't carrying her backpack and her cheek had a little paint on it. Lucas shook his head a little when Maya caught him staring at her, not believing that she would return his gaze. Her blue eyes were flashing with an unveiled emotion, until her eyes caught Riley's hand on his arm, the baby blues turned into a dark gray. Lucas was a bit confused when he saw her flat expression mix into a deep frown.

She quickly looked away and went into the lunch line. Although Maya dismissed his gaze within a second, he couldn't keep his eyes off her until she walked out of the cafeteria with a tray full of food. Lucas slowly moved his arm away from Riley's and went back to mechanically munching on his lunch. Riley frowned when he moved away, missing the contact and warmth of his arm, but didn't act like it bothered her. Besides Lucas, everyone else was staring at Maya when she walked in, but only Riley and Zay were looking at him closely for his reaction.

Zay shook his head in frustration when he saw that Lucas was trying to school his features into being indifferent, but recognized the hurt look in his eyes when Maya walked in and out without saying a word. Zay knew he was pushing it, but he was going crazy if he had to sit through another lunch with a sulking Lucas and an absent Maya. After a long silence, Zay couldn't take it any longer.

"You should go follow her," Lucas looked at Zay dumbly.

"Why?" Lucas shrugged his shoulders.

"Are you legally stupid? Don't try to play dumb here, I know you want to talk to her."

"Why should I? She obviously doesn't want anything to do with me," Lucas said irritably.

"I don't blame her, you've been in a shitty mood all week, and it's making the rest of us feel depressed. I'm almost at my wit's end if I have to put up with your petty attitude for another second," Zay shot back, challenging Lucas to deny what he said. Lucas just fumed silently in his seat, telling himself to take deep breaths.

"Since when were you scared of Maya?" Zay crossed his arms. Lucas looked at him bewilderingly, what kind of accusation was that?

Lucas looked at him like he was crazy, "I'm not."

"Then grow a pair of balls and go talk to her," Zay admonished. Lucas grit his teeth in annoyance, he was really skating on thin ice here.

"Riley help me out here, shouldn't he try to fix things with the blonde beauty?" Zay looked at Riley expectantly, but she didn't know what to say.

"Would you stop calling her that?" Lucas asked sharply.

"You called her that, not me, remember?"

"Zay, if Lucas doesn't want to talk to her, it's his choice," Riley glared at Zay, tired of him pushing his buttons.

"If you actually want her to say something to you, you have to approach her first, right Riley? You're Maya's best friend, tell him he's being stubborn," Zay turned to Riley and pointed towards Lucas, signaling her to follow his lead.

Riley started to sputter when everyone looked at her expectantly, except for Lucas who was still tensely chewing his food like it was cement. She wrung her hands but sighed when the bell rang, signaling that lunch was over. They all got up and proceeded to dump their food in the trash on the way out, forgetting yet another unpleasant lunch.

Riley was at a crossroad; she didn't know whether she wanted Lucas and Maya to make up. This past week has been hard on both of her friends. Riley knew Lucas was miserable and that Maya wasn't in a good mood either, but she couldn't deny that her and Lucas became closer this week because of it. Riley didn't want that to change, she was happy that Lucas spent more time with her, but in the back of her mind, she knew it was probably because Lucas didn't have Maya.

* * *

During fourth period, the next day, everyone was settling into their respective seats in biology, except for Maya. Riley looked to her right and frowned when Maya still hadn't claimed her spot yet. Riley looked at Lucas and saw that he was staring holes at Maya's seat. He sensed her gaze and glanced at her sheepishly, realizing he was caught glancing at her chair forlornly.

Before the final bell rung, Maya came skidding in the classroom and rushed to her seat next to her best friend. Lucas' desk was right next to Riley's and Maya's, allowing him to study her closely. Lucas double-checked she was all right since she was panting, but went back to answering the bell work questions on the chalkboard after he realized she probably just ran straight from the art room.

"Cutting it a little close there, aren't we Ms. Hart?" the biology teacher pushed his glasses back up on his nose, and looked down at Maya.

Maya blushed but met his eyes bravely, "it's a good thing you're a fast runner," the teacher added and turned towards his class.

"Alright fellow scientists, take out your goggles and beakers because today you'll all be conducting a lab!" the teacher bellowed enthusiastically.

The whole class emitted a collective groan, except for Farkle who was practically bouncing in his seat, "YES!" Farkle yelled and shook his fists in the air in excitement.

The biology teacher chuckled at his star pupil but all the students glared at him, "Well I'm glad someone's looking forward to write a 5-page analysis on seed germination."

"What?" all the students cried out in unison.

"What? Only 5 pages?" Farkle said in disbelief. "But Sir, that wouldn't allow much room for the hypothesis, background research, conclusion, or the controlled variables table!"

Maya slowly turned to Farkle with a pissed expression on her face. "Don't you dare say another word, or else I'll dismember you," she glowered at him.

Farkle looked at her nervously but felt like he was going to burst, "Farkle, I'm asking you for the greater good of humanity, don't do what I think you're going to-"

Maya was cut off when Farkle yelled out unceremoniously, "I propose 10 pages!"

The teacher raised his eyebrows in surprise, but shook his head, "how about 6 pages?" he offered, observing the angry sea of students that were about to make Farkle their new meal.

"Nine!" Farkle bargained.

"Seven."

"Eight."

"Seven, take it or leave it."

"Fine, but can you give us extra credit if we write more than the minimum?" Farkle asked hopefully.

"I'll give you extra credit if you don't drop a dissertation on my desk come next Friday," the teacher warned him.

Farkle smiled smugly and turned to everyone, "you guys can thank me later," he said confidently. Riley tugged on Maya's shirt, preventing her from tackling him on the floor.

"Don't worry, I'm allowing you to partner up," at the mention of partners, the volume increased with chatter. Everyone was relieved that they could divvy up the work with one another, Maya visibly relaxed when she realized she could partner up with Riley.

Maya turned to Riley and smiled mischievously, "You and me?"

Riley's eyes twinkled with warmth and she nodded fervently, "as always Peaches."

"So you and me?" Lucas motioned between him and Farkle.

"If you can keep up with me Cowboy," Farkle licked the tip of his pencil before scribbling lab ideas on his notepad.

Lucas frowned when he heard the nickname, it didn't sound right when it came out of Farkle's mouth, it made him feel exasperated instead of amused. "Okay so which section do you want to take?" Lucas asked, preparing to jot down the tasks they each had to do.

"How about the controlled variables table and the independent/dependent variables?" Farkle didn't look up from his paper, sketching out a detailed plan.

Lucas was confused when he heard what he had to do, "are you sure? Farkle, that's barely one-fourth of the assignment. I can do more."

Farkle sighed tiredly, "okay fine, you can go buy the materials we need."

Lucas was starting to get a little irritated that he couldn't help out as much, "and that's it? I'm not going to let you do this all by yourself you know."

Farkle picked up the goggles on their desk and snapped it on his forehead, "that's the point Lucas, I don't mind doing the majority of the work, I want to, trust me."

Lucas slammed his pencil down and glared at him, "fine I'll go buy the materials, but what else could we need? We have all the seeds here," Lucas pointed towards the table in the front where all the materials were splayed out.

"A torch, duh," Farkle looked at him like he was asking a stupid question.

Lucas did a double take, "what would we possibly need a blowtorch for?"

"We're going to burn the seeds to see if it affects the rate of germination," Farkle picked up his notebook and shoved it in front of Lucas' nose. Lucas crinkled his nose, staring at the intricate design mapped out in a matter of minutes, shocked that Farkle actually wanted to incorporate fire in their experiment.

"We could always use a lighter," Lucas suggested.

"That's so boring," Farkle shook his head in dismay. "I thought you liked playing with fire," Farkle gave him a sly, knowing look. Lucas' face burned at the suggestion, the night of the campfire in Texas flashing in the back of his mind.

"Ms. Hart and Ms. Matthews," the teacher walked around their desk and stopped in front of Riley.

"Yes?" Riley looked up and gave him her best megawatt smile.

"I don't think you two should work together," the teacher said sternly.

"What?" Maya and Riley both cried in disbelief.

"But Maya's been my partner since the third grade, she's literally my partner in crime, the pea to my pod, the peanut butter to my jelly," Riley babbled.

The teacher brought his hand up to stop her babbling, "Yes, Ms. Matthews I get the point, but you two need to switch with someone else."

"Why? We work well when we're together," Riley argued.

"That's because you," he pointed a finger to Riley, "do all the work."

"And you," he turned his finger towards Maya, "always slack off."

"Before you talk my head off, think about it, isn't it always tiring to have the same person be your partner for your whole life?" Riley shook her head.

"A change of scenery would be nice, wouldn't it Ms. Hart?"

"No I like the view just fine here, thanks," Maya grit out. She was beyond done with school right now, she can't believe someone would try to separate her from her best friend.

"Ms. Hart…" he said patronizingly.

"Fine!" Maya relented. "Farkle!" Maya shouted. Farkle perked up when he heard his name and then scrambled off his stool, running towards Maya in less than a millisecond.

"Yes my lady?" Farkle asked smoothly.

"You're going to be my partner," Farkle grinned at her command.

"I'd love to, but what about Lucas?" Farkle turned around and threw a glance at Lucas being studious at their desk.

Maya looked at Lucas but turned away when he sensed her gaze, "he'll be fine, he's a big boy, I'm sure he can handle changing partners," Maya rolled her eyes. "He and Riley can pair up."

"I don't think so Ms. Hart," the teacher chuckled, "I know you like to push the poor boy around, he'll end up doing all the work."

"Oh contraire, sir, I don't mind at all," Farkle winked at Maya.

He shook his head in disapproval, "Farkle you can pair up with Riley." Both of Farkle and Riley's smile disappeared when they realized neither of them could partner up with Maya.

Maya gestured to herself, "uh, what about me? You're just gonna make me do this project all by myself?" Maya looked at Riley for some emotional support, but she shrugged her shoulders, not sure what to do.

"Mr. Friar," he called out and got Lucas' attention from his assignment.

Maya shrunk back and bit her lip, praying over and over again to herself that she wasn't going to be paired up with Lucas.

"Yes Sir?" Lucas responded back, placing his pencil down and rubbing his hands on his jeans. The teacher didn't say anything but beckoned him over with his hand. Lucas came over and stood in the only open space near their desk, which happens to be next to Maya.

"I'm having you switch partners, is that okay?" Lucas nodded dutifully, like the ever-obedient student he is, Maya scoffed.

"With Riley?" Lucas asked hopefully, smiling a little at Riley but was confused when she shook her head back at him.

"Uh, no, with Ms. Hart," Lucas hesitated, glancing down at Maya in the corner of his eyes, who looked like she would rather be anywhere else at the moment.

"Yeah, that's fine," Lucas scratched the back of his head anxiously, not knowing where the hell they were going to go from here. Maya stiffened when he heard him hesitate, she didn't know why she was disappointed by his lack of reaction. Like I give a shit if he wants to partner up with me or not, Maya thought bitterly to herself.

"Great," their teacher clapped his hands together in merriment, "problem solved, I'm glad you understand Maya," he bent over to make sure she was listening to him.

"I understand perfectly," Maya muttered.

"There won't be any issues here, right?" he motioned between her and Lucas. They both shook their heads somberly, "Ok then I won't keep you from your experiment, good luck," and with that he turned around and continued walking around the classroom, checking up on the other groups.

The four of them just stayed where they were for a good minute, each of them silently contemplating their messy situation. Before Maya was about to snap, Farkle spoke up, "Riley do you happen to have a blowtorch?"

Riley did a double take, "a blowtorch?" she was about to question him further but just nodded in defeat, figuring there was a method to his madness.

"I'll explain it in detail, come on," Farkle grabbed Riley's hand and tugged her towards Lucas' former seat. "Here, you'll need this," Farkle picked up the goggles and put on the goggles for her, adjusting the straps before admiring his handiwork. "Now you look like the perfect scientific assistant," Farkle smiled softly.

Riley chuckled, "you wish, Einstein," Riley poked her tongue out playfully.

Riley turned around and mouthed a "good luck" to Maya before proceeding to the glove box. Maya sighed, at least somebody liked their partner, she had to stop herself from blushing when she realized Lucas was studying her inquisitively.

"I'll go get the materials," Maya muttered, she made her trek up to the table as slowly as possible, to delay anymore time she had to spend with Lucas. She stared at all the tubes and measuring instruments in confusion, there were so many options that she didn't know what to take. So she just took everything she saw and figured she'd return the things they didn't need. When Maya came back with an armful of stuff, Lucas looked up from his checklist and raised an eyebrow in mild amusement.

"We don't need all of those stuff," Lucas pointed out.

"No shit, I didn't know what we needed so I did the smart thing and brought everything to you," Maya said irritably, not in the mood for his cocky and smartass comments.

Lucas rolled his eyes, "fine, we just need 10 plastic bags, 50 pinto bean seeds and paper towels," Lucas read aloud from his checklist.

Maya huffed, "you mean we don't need any of these glass thingys?" looking down at all the glass containers in her small arms.

"You mean beakers?" Lucas corrected her, without thinking.

Maya growled at his smartass comment, "yeah, beakers, cups, I don't give a shit."

Lucas' mood was turning sour every second with every angry remark thrown his way, "could you just put it all back and get the seeds?" Lucas asked more or less patiently.

"Sure, let me just lug all this shit back for nothing, could I get a fucking please?" Maya shifted the tray of beakers on her hips uncomfortably.

"Fucking please." Great, it's barely been five minutes and they were already at each other's throats, this was going to be a lot harder than he thought this would be. Maya threw him a venomous look over her shoulder before she went back to the front and picked up everything she remembered.

"Did you get everything off the checklist?"

"Yeah, so spare me the ten minute rant about your obsessions with checklists, Leslie Knope," Maya brought a hand up in front of her face and waved him off flippantly.

Lucas looked at her hand offensively, "great, now that it took you 20 minutes to get the materials, we can finally start," Lucas said spitefully. Maya glared at Lucas, she was so irritated with him she couldn't even respond properly.

"Do you have a particular section you want to do?"

"I don't know, maybe the part where you put down what you thought was going to happen."

"The hypothesis?" Lucas treaded carefully, not wanting to piss her off even more. Lucas raised his hands in surrender when she narrowed her eyes, "it was a shot in the dark."

"Yeah that."

"Is it okay if I assign the both of us specific tasks to do?"

Maya nodded her head stiffly, "do whatever you want, I don't care."

"Maya," Lucas sighed, "you need to take this project seriously. I'm not going to go easy on you like Riley and Farkle would, I'm not gonna cover for you or do all the work, you're going to do your part," he finished tersely.

"Are you done preaching yet?" Maya's gaze was steely, not exactly pleased with his admonition. "I was going to do my part whether you scold me or not, thank you very much," she said indignantly.

"Good, then we're on the same page." Maya didn't rebuttal, wanting to put their conversation in the backburner so she could actually get stuff done without hearing his obnoxious Texas twang.

Lucas took a look at the stapled lab worksheets as he was copying down the instructions on his own notebook. When he glanced at Maya to see what she was doing, he saw her trying to straighten the materials out. She plucked out a plastic bag and looked at everything splayed out on their desk perplexedly, confused as to where to even begin. Lucas gently took the Ziploc bag out of her hands to try to demonstrate the steps for her while Maya watched him carefully.

"Do you want my copy of the steps?" Lucas tore off the paper and slid it to his left. Maya didn't say a word but accepted the piece of paper and went over to the sinks to run water over the towels. Pretty soon, they were working in tune with each other and had a good rhythm going until the teacher told everyone to pack up. Maya didn't even notice that time went by so fast; for once, she didn't have to keep checking the time on the clock for the class to be over. Lucas was almost finished with the Pre-lab questions when his eyes started to glaze over. He looked at Maya's side of the table and was surprised to see that she had all the baggies set up with the correct labels on them.

Lucas' eyebrows shot up in a pleasant surprise, "wow I'm impressed."

"Why? Because the dumb blonde can actually do something by herself for once?" Maya asked sarcastically.

Lucas frowned, "what the hell? It was a compliment, what's with you?"

Maya crossed her arms in defiance, "oh sure, you don't think I'm perfectly capable of following directions. I'm not stupid." Maya was fed up with people treating her like she was an airhead.

Lucas shook his head, "You're not stupid, why do you assume that?"

"You and everyone else here thinks I'm incompetent," Maya stated matter-of-factly.

"I've never said anything that suggested you were incompetent," he argued, "in fact, you are really smart, maybe if you actually applied yourself in school people would take you seriously," Lucas pushed. Maya didn't reply, when he expected an answer, she just pushed her stool back in its place and repacked all of her pencils.

She roughly shoved five of the plastic bags into his hands, "take your stupid seeds and don't worry about me. I'll be just fine burning my brain calories away at home."

Lucas sat there stunned with an armful of seeds, watching Maya and everyone else shuffle out the door. Riley caught up to Maya in the hallway and grabbed her arm, "hey how was it?"

Maya shook her head in dismay, "I don't want to talk about it."

Riley squeezed her hand, "I'm sorry, Peaches. Do you want me to save a seat for you at lunch?" Riley asked hopefully, her heart painfully twisting in her chest when she thought about spending another lunch without her best friend.

Maya took her hands out of hers gently and shook her head for the last time, "No it's okay, I think I'm just going to go to the art room after class and paint."

"If you ever feel lonely, there's always a spot for you at our table," Riley reminded her.

"Thanks, but you guys have fun without me," Maya started walking in the opposite direction but paused when Riley called out.

"I'll miss you Peaches."

"I'll miss you too, don't worry, I'll see you in History class later," Maya chuckled.

Lucas stood right outside the door, hearing the entire exchange between Maya and Riley. Lucas felt even more like shit when he realized Maya didn't even want to have lunch with them because of him. He didn't think life could shit on him even more at that exact moment. He really fucked things up by stepping back, didn't he?

He couldn't help but feel hopeless right now, his pride was pretty much worth shit at this point if he didn't have Maya by his side.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Zay asked behind him. Silently, observing Lucas' tense posture and blank stare.

"I'm so stupid," Lucas admitted dejectedly. "I pushed her away again. Fuck, all I do is mess things up with her," Lucas looked at Zay pointedly.

Zay couldn't believe Lucas finally admitted that he was upset because of Maya. He knew it the whole time but he didn't think he was ever going to say it aloud. Zay patted him on the back, "it's okay, she'll turn around eventually."

"I hope so," Lucas kicked the ground and stuffed his hands into his pockets. Staring at the space Maya was standing in just a couple of minutes ago.


	10. Chapter 10

**Woohoo! This story has OFFICIALLY reached the double digits! I'm so excited this story has come this far with all of your amazing support. I just want to say thank you and you guys are the best! Please keep leaving me more reviews I enjoy them very much. And to the person who recognized my Parks & Recs reference I tip my hat to you, Leslie Knope IS the best. **

**Also, another thing I'm so excited about is this story is almost up to a 100 FOLLOWS! Wow, I can't express how happy I am right now, really guys, this shit is amazing. We just need 7 more followers and this baby's gonna reach a hundred!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own GMW, but if I did I'd just make Lucaya kiss already. Am I right? I'm tired of this triangle shit.**

 **Now onto the story! Allons-y!**

* * *

"What the hell are you doing here?" Maya crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently.

"To apologize," Lucas replied anxiously. After the whole spat they had during biology class, Lucas realized he was making things worse for their tense relationship. He couldn't really focus for the remainder of his classes because he kept staring holes at Maya's head, reminders of the ugly words they've said to each other just hours ago.

"Why do you keep showing up here?" Maya fixed him an irritated glare, not really surprised that he came to the art room again to confront her again. She sighed and looked around the room wistfully, her sanctuary tainted from all the memories she had with him here.

Lucas shot her an apologetic look, "I'm sorry for what happened in class earlier. I didn't mean anything I said."

"Then why'd you say it?" Maya reiterated in a matter of seconds.

Lucas sighed at her unwavering stance, "I wasn't thinking. I really meant to assure you that you're smart, I just didn't know you would take it the wrong way."

Maya's nostrils flared, "so you're basically blaming me for overreacting," she assumed.

Lucas sucked in a breath of air, "No I'm not."

"If you came here to continue this argument and be a smartass, then just leave. I had something to do before you came in here and scared me," Maya looked down at the puddle of yellow paint on the floor between them she was referring to.

"Sorry about that," Lucas cautiously apologized, knowing she cared about her paints like they were her own children.

"No you're not. You call that an apology?"

"At least I'm _trying_ ," Lucas grit out.

Maya snapped her gaze to his heated eyes, "Excuse me?" Maya sputtered at his suggestion. "You said I could come to you when I was ready. Obviously you can't respect that."

" _Obviously,_ you aren't really observant Maya. I've been giving you space this past week, how long is it going to take for you to swallow your pride?"

"However long I want," she replied indignantly. "Now if you excuse me, I'd like to go back to my painting and forget your shitty apology."

Lucas wanted to grab her and shake her shoulders to get her to listen to him. "Well I didn't just come here to apologize and have it thrown back into my face."

Maya turned around blankly, a bored expression written clearly on her face. "You mean you didn't really come here to apologize. You want something," she finished.

"Why am I not surprised?" she scoffed.

"In case you haven't noticed, we're paired up in a science project together. We have to work together at some point."

Maya butted in during the middle of his sentence, "yeah I know, genius. I was hoping we could not see each other as much as possible to make this a less painful experience for the both of us."

Lucas waited patiently for her to finish her rude interruption, "can I say my part please?"

Maya gestured him to go on, "What I'm trying to say is we need to work together to make this project work. I want an A and you want to stop being lectured by our teacher about slacking off, so we're on the same page there," Maya rolled her eyes at the last part.

"Your point?"

"We have to be civil and put everything that happened between us behind."

Maya shook her head, "How is that going to work? We obviously can't go one minute without arguing," she pointed out.

Lucas nodded solemnly, "I know. Which is why for now we need to make a deal."

"A truce?"

"If you want to call it that," Lucas stated dryly. Lucas silently watched Maya get her thoughts together, curious as to what she's thinking of right now.

Maya slowly uncrossed her arms and nodded for him to talk, "Ok I'm listening. What's your part of the deal?"

"For the next week, up until this project is due, I won't bring up anything about your dad or mention the fight we've been having."

Maya narrowed her eyes, "So far so good. What's the catch though?"

"There is no catch. All I'm asking is for you not to be at my throat the entire time or start any arguments," Maya opened her mouth to protest but Lucas continued, adamant he would be able to finish his thought.

"And I need you to give this project your 110% effort. You're going to take this assignment seriously and not slack off. You're going to do your every part."

"Is that it?" Maya fumed. "Or do you need me to fetch a scroll and quill for you?"

Lucas growled, irritated that she wasn't listening to a word he was saying. "We haven't even started the project and you're already doing it again," he pointed out.

"I just want us to be civil. At least civil enough to finish this assignment."

"Fine," Maya spit out. Lucas didn't say anything for a second when he heard her agree to his terms. "What? Do you want to shake on it so you can go on your merry way?" Maya was irked when he shook off her advances, she just wanted him to go away and leave her alone for the day. She was done with having to deal with him, every second he was standing there made her want to claw her own eyes out.

"I'm not leaving until we set a time to meet up."

"You can just text me whenever you want to work on it. We don't need an appointment."

"I won't be able to get back to you until after practice. I'm thinking that we should work on it tonight."

 _Wait tonight? Why the hell would he want to meet again so soon after today's disaster?_

"Can't it wait until tomorrow? We literally just got the assignment hours ago," Maya groaned.

"I know but I always want to get a head start. We need to figure out all the kinks to the experiment and decide who's doing what," he explained staunchly.

"Hold on there, you're not Farkle Minkus. Why are you taking this way too seriously?"

"I'm not exactly comfortable with this assignment. I'm worried we won't do well."

"You're a good student and you do everything handed to you in that class. I don't see what's the problem," Maya shrugged.

Lucas exhaled a breath he didn't know he had been holding. "Maya we've only been partners once before, back when we had to make those muffins for History, which didn't exactly work out if you remember."

Maya thought back to the healthy muffins that Lucas insisted on selling, they argued over what kind of product to give to the students and eventually she caved into his annoying persistence. They didn't make any profit, in fact they lost a lot since they had to pay Lucas' mom back for the ingredients. Maya was livid and humiliated by their defeat and she didn't let Lucas hear the end of it.

Maya winced a little upon looking back at the memory, "yeah I get your point, but that was a year ago. I promise I'll help you get the grade you want."

Lucas stopped himself, staring at her fondly when he heard her sincerely promise to put the effort in to acing this project. What was weird was hearing her say something remotely nice to him in a week. It surprised him but it didn't turn him upset, in fact it made him smile a little.

"So does this mean that you agree to work on it tonight?"

Maya huffed when she saw the corners of his mouth pull up in a slight curve. Biting her lip she said, "I guess so."

"Great, so then I'll see you at Topanga's at seven."

* * *

After Maya accomplished her painting goal for the day she packed up all her things and hurried to catch the subway back home before rush hour. She was starving, tired, and physically hurting from the cramped muscles in her back from sitting up on a stool for a couple of hours straight. She didn't even know if she could muster up the energy to climb the flight of stairs to the apartment. Once she unlocked the door, she was eyeing the fridge, planning to grab the pizza rolls in the freezer and heating them up for dinner so she could curl up on the sofa.

Maya hummed when dropped her bags to the floor but stopped when she heard a loud hacking noise. She frowned, wondering where that noise was coming from since she was the only one in the house. She slowly continued to make her way to the fridge until the hacking sound started up again. This time Maya wasn't imagining it, she could hear it coming from the direction of her mother's bedroom. _But it was only five o'clock, how can mom be home? She should be working her shift at Topanga's right now._

"Mom?" Maya called out cautiously.

Hacking.

Maya opened the door and peeped her head into the bedroom, squinting her eyes in the darkness, trying to make out a distinct shape. Her eyes landed on her mother rolled into her blanket like a burrito, with dark bags under her eyes and a messy mane of hair that was covered in sweat and spit.

"Mom! What are you doing in here?" Maya rushed by her bedside and kneeled down, checking on her appearance.

Katy didn't respond to her daughter's frantic cries but coughed roughly, struggling to inhale through her nose. Maya looked down at her mom wheezing and coughing miserably into the thick blankets. "Have you taken any medicine yet?" Maya reached her hand up to her forehead to check the temperature. Maya glanced down at her mom in pity when she felt her forehead was a bit warm.

"I'll go get the Tylenol and some water bottles, I'll be right back mom. Don't move."

Katy shivered in response and nodded weakly to let her daughter know that she wasn't in any condition to walk out on her own. Maya ran to the kitchen and tried to reach for the medicine on the top cabinet, but cursed when she realized she couldn't reach it. Maya pulled out a stool from under the table and carefully teetered on the top to grab every medicine bottle she could find. Maya went back to the bedroom and read the labels for instructions and carefully shook out all the pills she needed.

"Mom, you think you can sit up for me?" Katy groaned and painfully tried to sit up from her position. Maya placed a hand behind her back and pulled her forward slowly. Once she was sitting up, Maya helped her mom swallow down the medicine.

"I'm going to bring you to the living room, are you ready?" Maya extended her arm and heaved her mom up from the bed. While she transported her mom to the other room, Katy almost stumbled like a rag doll, lacking strength to walk straight. Maya carefully plopped her down the couch and wrapped her mom up in a blanket. Maya turned on the small TV to keep her mom occupied, flipping through channels until she landed on her mom's favorite show: _Friends._

"Do you want some soup?"

"Yes, baby girl," Katy croaked. Maya went to the fridge and peered inside, their fridge was basically empty except for expired milk, a jar of pickles, and old Chinese food.

"Mom, I'm gonna have to make a run to the store. We don't have anymore food." Katy nodded slowly, but Maya noticed her mom wasn't in any condition to understand her. Her eyes were glazed over as she eyed the lights on the TV and her nose was red from blowing out all the discharge. Maya grabbed her coat and purse, walking up to the coffee table to set down all the water bottles, tissues, and plastic bags for her while she was gone.

"I won't be long," Maya promised and squeezed her mom's shoulder.

After an hour later, Maya was back with an armful of groceries. She heated up the bowl of chicken noodle soup and fed it to her mom with a spoon like she was feeding a baby. Maya wiped the trail of soup falling from her mom's lips while fluffing out the pillows to make her mom more comfortable. Maya looked at her mom worriedly while she was hacking a lung out into a tissue, the medicine was helping a little, since her mom seemed to have her awareness back.

Katy's eyes were red but they were focused on her daughter, "thank you for taking care of me baby girl. You didn't have to," she sniffled.

Maya shook her head adamantly, "it's fine, I swear. I need to take care of you."

Katy gave her a watery smile, "I know, but I'm still thankful to have a wonderful daughter. I wish I could hug my baby girl right now."

"Mom you need to get some sleep, don't worry about me right now."

"Alright, I will. I love you."

"I love you too." Maya quickly went around the apartment to pick up all the dirty clothes lying around on the floor, to make her mom's job easier. She disposed all of her mom's clothes into the hamper and hand washed her mom's work uniform in the sink, getting out all of the grime their crappy washer machine couldn't. Maya heaved up her basket full of clean and folded clothes from the laundry room into her bedroom. She clicked the door to her bedroom shut softly, careful not to wake her mom up.

She sighed and collapsed on her bed after placing the basket on the floor. She just folded her arms on the back of her head and stared up at her ceiling, her thoughts were all fuzzy and hazy. She didn't get a chance to sit down or rest for a minute since she's stepped back into the apartment this afternoon. She loved her mom and everything but she was exhausted, she didn't know how her mom could take care of her when she was sick herself while juggling a job.

Maya sorted through the clean clothes and hung up some of her blouses, dresses and skirts, but placed the rest in her drawers. When Maya distractedly reached at the bottom of the basket, she pulled up a baseball shirt that didn't belong to her. She studied it curiously for a minute, confused as to how Lucas' shirt ended up in her laundry basket at home.

Wait.

This was the shirt Lucas left in her bathroom over a week ago. The shirt that Riley found and threw in her face.

What was it still doing here?

The shirt was clean and didn't leave any sign that it had red stains on it from his baseball practice. She figured her mom came in at some point and took all of the clothes on the floor to wash them. She brought the shirt up to her nose and sniffed it.

It smelled like floral laundry detergent.

But she could still smell Lucas' musky scent on it.

She clutched the shirt tighter to her chest and unknowingly melted into the soft fabric. Thoughts of Lucas filled her thoughts immediately like a drizzle of rain pounding the sidewalk. His scent was thick and it turned her senses into overdrive, she squeezed her eyes shut to erase the quick image of his smile off her mind. Maya slipped on his shirt and looked down to see that his shirt almost made for a dress, since she was small and he was so tall. It just hung on her like a curtain but it fit her well, it was big enough for her to sink in. Maya chucked off her jeans and socks, sliding underneath the bedcovers carefully.

She turned off the lamp on her bed stand and melted into the comfy pillows. Now she smelled like Lucas. She didn't want to admit it made her feel safer because she felt like he was almost there with her. Her eyes drooped shut when she felt the material gather up to her chest.

* * *

Maya sat up in her bed in alarm, her heart beating wildly in her chest from a frantic knocking sound coming from her window. She blinked alarmingly at the figure at the window and squinted her eyes to see who the intruder was. She could only make out a golden tint on the figure's hair from a distant streetlight but her eyes widened when she realized it was Lucas.

 _What could he possibly be here at this goddamn hour?_

Maya's heart stopped for a fraction in her chest.

Shit! The project! She was supposed to meet him at Topanga's but she forgot.

Maya shot up and slid the window open, afraid of what he was going to say. Lucas wordlessly stepped into her bedroom, not making a move to set down his coat. Maya couldn't see clearly but she could she was close enough to him to see that he was furious. She shivered a little from the gust of wind that blew in through the curtains and the look he was giving her at the moment. She knew he never really was pissed off with her all of those times they argued, but she knew this time she really screwed it up and pushed him over the edge.

"I'm sick of your shit Maya," he started.

Maya drew back a little by his tone. "Lucas, please let me explain," she pleaded.

"Explain what? Why you didn't show up and didn't let me know ahead of time that you were going to leave me sitting there for hours, looking like an idiot?" he spat.

"I'm sorry, I had to-" Maya started to explain but was cut off impatiently.

"Save it. I don't want to hear your fake excuses."

Maya winced before she got up her bearings; her remorse was quickly turning into fuel for fire. "If you would just shut up for a minute you'll understand."

"Understand that you really didn't mean a word you said earlier? You really don't care about this project, do you? Just because you don't want to put in the effort, doesn't mean you should leave your partner struggling to pick up the pieces."

Maya clenched her fists to keep them from shaking, "I wasn't going to go back on my word. I was going to come over but I forgot. Something came up. Couldn't we just reschedule this to tomorrow and accept my apology already?"

"If you can't keep your end of the deal, I don't think this is going to work. You obviously, don't give a shit about your friends."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Maya snarled when she heard his accusation. "You're the one to spring this meeting up on me on the last minute. Did you ever think about what's going on in other people's lives?"

"Yeah I think about it all the time, but you won't tell me anything," Lucas stepped closer to her when she took a step back.

"Deal's off asshat," Maya spit out. "You promised you wouldn't mention anything, if you can't keep your nose out of my business, I don't want to work with you anymore."

"That's fine, because I came here to tell you that I don't think we should partner up anymore. And you broke your promise way before I did, you didn't even show up; clearly you don't give a shit about this class. Or school as a whole."

"Fucking perfect. I wasn't going to tell you anything anyways," Lucas' eyes glinted lividly. "Get out of my room," she pointed in the direction of her window.

"You don't need to tell me twice."

"Just get the hell out!" Maya shouted.

Lucas climbed out the window onto the fire escape, not even taking notice that she was wearing his shirt as a sleepingwear. Lucas glared at her fuming expression, the corners of her mouth pulled down in a heavy frown.

"My pleasure Ma'm," Lucas snapped, his cunning remark emitted anything but a playful vibe. Maya just shut the window in front of his face and flicked him off, before turning away.


	11. Chapter 11

**Happy New Year my children! Hope you guys enjoyed your winter vacations, I know I did because I definitely caught up with some sleeping that was long overdue. I'm really sorry about the lack of updates, I know I said I would post more but I didn't because I didn't know how to balance out writing and spending time with my family over the break. I hope you guys forgive me :)**

 **But can I just add that WOOHOOO this story has officially reached over a 100 followers and I couldn't be any more happier because of your amazing support! Couldn't have done any of this without you! MUAH! LOVE YOU GUYS.**

 **Sidenote: My beta and I had a long rant/talk about reviews and we both agree that we need more! Seriously guys, your reviews make my day and it really gives me the motivation to write more, I don't mind if the feedback is positive or negative. Criticism or praise. I don't care. All I want is to hear your metaphorical voices online! Remember: REVIEWS ARE AN AUTHOR'S FOOD. So S/O to all the peeps who reviewed last chapter because those were some of the best reviews I've ever gotten for a chapter! Aw you guys really make me smile!**

 **One more thing! This chapter took me really long to write for some reason. I'm still not satisfied about it and I don't think I ever will lol. But this chappie is a filler chapter, so prepare for things to get much much more intense/dramatic in the NEXT chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own GMW**

* * *

Riley Matthews was a fixer-upper.

A meddler.

Despite her feelings for Lucas, Riley really didn't like it when her friends were fighting. She wanted everyone to get along and be happy together, like the five of them used to be. 2015 was coming to a close pretty soon and she didn't want any of them to end the year on bad terms and begin the New Year with grudges. Even though Riley was a meddler, she didn't know if she wanted to meddle this time. She was god honestly scared to death whenever Maya and Lucas were near the same vicinity of each other. Just the other day, Riley had to hold Maya back from wringing out his neck. And that was when he was standing 50 yards away from her.

Riley nervously fiddled with the envelope in her hand as she watched Lucas transfer all of his textbooks from his locker, into his messenger bag. "Lucas!" Riley called and watched him fix his green gaze with her brown ones.

"Hey Riles, what's up?" Lucas zipped up his bag and fixed it on his left shoulder, giving Riley a small smile.

Riley handed Lucas the card without any warning and expectantly watched him read the contents of the colorful invitation. Lucas' eyes lit up a little when he read over Auggie's handwriting. "It's Auggie's birthday this Saturday?"

Riley nodded, "the little bugger's turning seven."

"Wow, is he really turning seven? I feel old now," Lucas chuckled.

Riley tucked a loose hair behind her hair shyly, "Yeah, I can't believe it myself."

"Anyways, I hope you can make it this Saturday."

"Of course I'll make it! It's your brother, I'll always make time for him." Riley rocked on the balls of her feet happily, excitement racing through her veins when Lucas talked fondly about her little brother. After a moment of Riley silently admiring him, Lucas broke the silence with a pondering expression written on his face. "I'm sorry but do you know what Auggie wants for his birthday? I don't want to get him something he doesn't like." Riley snapped out of her daydream and blinked away the tiny hearts she saw surrounding his golden features.

"He likes Mr. Googly when Ava isn't around," Riley offered. "But he wants to be all grown up now, whatever that means," Riley scoffed. Lucas just smiled at her exasperation with her little brother.

"Ok sounds good," the edge of lips pulled up in a reluctant smile. They both stood there for a minute awkwardly until a dreadful thought crossed her mind.

"What is it?" Lucas asked after watching the smile on her face turn into a grimace.

Riley gazed at him worriedly, "You know Maya's going to be there right?"

And just like that Lucas' good mood vanished. Lucas switched putting weight on both of his feet anxiously as he thought about what she said. "I figured she would," he said dryly.

"Look Lucas-" Riley started.

"It's okay Riley. Really. I kind of had a feeling she would be there," Lucas said dryly.

"Maya and I will be okay. I promise I'll be polite and civil with her," Lucas reached out and squeezed her shoulder. Riley melted at his warm touch and didn't bother to hide her wistful stare.

"Thank you Lucas. I know you'll be civil with her, it's just that I don't want you two to fight."

"Don't worry, _I promise_ not to start anything. However, I can't promise anything for her," Lucas almost growled at the thought of the blonde spitfire. "I doubt she can be civil for at least thirty minutes."

Riley stopped his thoughts before they could get any darker, "Well if you promise you'll be on your best behavior, I can talk to Maya and make her agree to do the same," she offered.

Lucas nodded stiffly, "alright," he muttered. Riley's spirits started to droop when she looked at his irritated expression. She knew he wasn't mad at her but it still made her anxious when he referred to Maya like that.

"Who knows?" Riley trailed off, "Maybe you and Maya could look past your differences."

Lucas shook his head dejectedly, "I don't think that's going to happen Riley."

"Oh," Riley said softly.

"I'm sorry I'm just trying to be realistic," Lucas offered. He wanted to reassure Riley that everything was going to be ok but he couldn't really promise her that they were going to make up, it would just let both of their hopes up.

* * *

"He said what!"

"Maya please," Riley chewed the insides of her cheek nervously.

Maya shot up from the couch and paced around Riley's living room. "He doesn't think I can be civil for more than thirty minutes? Fine, I'll show that Cowboy," Maya cracked her knuckles and furiously looked at Riley.

After school the Matthews had Maya over for dinner with the family since Auggie wanted to invite her cordially to his birthday party. Maya laughed warmly at Auggie's attempt to act all grown up but shot everyone looks when they poured syrup into their bowl of spaghetti. Maya asked why they had a giant bottle of syrup laid out in the middle of the table and everyone simply replied that _Elf_ was Auggie's favorite Christmas movie. Afterwards while Cory and Topanga were washing the dishes, Riley decided to tell Maya that Lucas was going to be at the party. Maya didn't look particularly surprised when she heard that Huckleberry was going to make an appearance but she also didn't look particularly pleased either.

"Maya stop! I'm being serious. You need to get along with Lucas this weekend. I don't want you both to ruin Auggie's birthday just because you guys are pig-headed."

Maya pointed to herself in shock, since when has her best friend ever call her pig-headed? "Me? What about Lucas?"

"You guys are _both_ in fault."

"Riley! You're my best friend; you're supposed to have my back no matter what. Especially when it comes to illiterate Cowboys."

Riley sighed exasperatedly, "See? This is what I'm talking about! You just did it again!"

"I'm sorry, I can't help it!" Maya defended, huffing at piece of stray hair that got caught in the front of her face. She plopped down on the couch and laid there, slumped like a potato.

"How can I not worry about the two of you? I can't babysit you for the rest of the day."

Maya rolled her eyes, "What are you worrying for mom? We'll be fine. I promise I won't do anything. Even if he does something that'll piss me off, I promise I'll keep my mouth shut."

Riley looked at her unamused by her sarcasm, "Do you ever think that maybe you need to lay off on the fire?"

"No," Maya grumbled. Refusing to admit that she had a tendency to piss everyone off, especially Lucas. Cory and Topanga were stealthily eavesdropping on their conversation from the kitchen, until Cory was itching to cut in and give them a piece of advice. Topanga saw the earnest look in her husband's eyes and stomped on his foot before he could open his big mouth.

Cory fell to the ground comically from the weight of Topanga's stiff, working heels. Maya and Riley looked over to investigate the obnoxious sound. "Don't pay attention to Cory, girls. Your dad's just being a big goofy, klutz again," Topanga looked down at her husband sprawled out on the floor and smiled sweetly.

Auggie shot up from where he was sitting in front of the TV where Mr. Googly was playing and went to his dad concerningly. "Dad got a boo-boo on his head!"

"No sweetie, it's okay that's just your daddy's big head," Topanga kneeled in front of Auggie.

"Don't worry mom, I'll go get the Band-Aids, stay here!" Auggie rushed out the kitchen and into the other room where he couldn't hear them. Cory immediately got up and motioned for everyone to come together.

"Why are you-" Maya trailed off when Cory hushed her. He put a finger to his lips, signal in they were supposed to be quiet.

"Keep your voices down."

"Why?" Riley whispered.

"Your mom and I were thinking of throwing Auggie a surprise party on the roof after you guys come back from bowling."

Riley's eyes lit up at the mention of surprise parties. "That's a great idea," Riley clapped enthusiastically.

"Topanga and I have everything set up. The only thing is bringing everyone here to the roof without anyone knowing."

Maya placed a hand on Cory's shoulder and nodded dutifully, "Don't worry Matthews. I got it."

Cory smiled back, "I knew I could trust my second daughter."

"What about me?" Riley whined.

"I love you honey but we know you get nervous when you have to keep surprises a secret." Topanga wanted to deny it too but she reluctantly agreed with Cory.

Riley pouted but didn't seem to fight anyone on it, "yeah you're right." At the sound of Auggie's small footsteps nearing the living room, Cory waved his arms frantically in the air in slight disarray.

"Act natural," Cory whispered-yelled. Topanga went to the kitchen and picked up a towel, pretending she was drying the dishes; Cory pulled out a chair and posed awkwardly, while Riley sat on the couch stiffly and tried to fight the wide smile that was spreading across her face.

Needless to say, everyone looked ridiculous.

The absolute opposite of natural.

Before Maya was about to witness the Matthews' horrible attempt of coming up with an excuse as to why they were all acting suspiciously, Maya grabbed all her belongings and stepped out of the door.

* * *

"I'll get it!" Auggie pushed passed Riley forcefully, causing her to fall on the couch with an oomph. Riley huffed at a few strands of wayward hair to see what got her brother so antsy. Auggie flung open the door and slumped his shoulders when he saw Maya holding a tiny gift bag.

"Happy Birthday Auggie!" Maya bent over and smiled.

"Thanks Maya but you're not Ava," Auggie crossed his arms but went closer to her body to be enveloped in a tight hug.

"Yeah I know kiddo, could you at least pretend you're glad to see me?"

Auggie smiled and reciprocated the hug and wrapped his tiny arms around her torso. Maya laughed when he glanced at the bag in her hand. "Is that for me?" Maya handed him his gift and he smiled gleefully, shaking the bag earnestly.

"What is it?"

"I guess you'll have to wait and find out later," Maya winked and chuckled when Riley took the present out of his grubby little hands.

"I'm going to put this somewhere so he won't open it."

"Hey woman!" Auggie tried jumping to snag the gift back but Riley just lifted her arms higher so he couldn't reach.

There was a knock on the door and Auggie forgot everything about the gift. He ran to the door but paused to put himself together, he straightened out his shirt and fixed his hair. Maya just watched him amusedly from her spot on the couch, watching him place a hand on the doorknob and mustering up his grown up attitude.

"Ava!" Maya's smile immediately deflated upon seeing Lucas standing there.

Lucas looked behind, a small frown masking his expression. "I'm not Ava."

"Obviously," Auggie said under his breath. "I was hoping my lady wife would be at the door."

"Sorry, it's just me," Lucas laughed out loud but looked up when he felt a gaze on him. He darted his eyes away from Maya's blue ones and continued to look down at the little confident guy in front of him.

"But I bet you want this, don't you?" he held out his gift and blinked in surprise when it was out of his hands in less than a nanosecond.

"I guess I'll go call Ava and see what's taking her so long," he shifted the wrapped box in his small arms.

Lucas used his thumb to point over his shoulder, "doesn't she live right down the hall?"

"Yes Lucas, but it's not gentlemanly to show up unannounced. You know that don't you?"

"I guess not," Lucas shrugged.

"I don't know how you were able to woo my sister," Auggie whipped around and made his way to his bedroom, leaving Lucas and Maya in the room by themselves. It was tense for the first couple of minutes, since Lucas just stood there, not really knowing what to do with himself. He took off his coat and hung it on the coatrack, wiping his hands on his jeans a little bit.

Maya just sat there frozen in place, her back stiff but turned against him. She didn't know what to do, this was Lucas for fuck's sake! She shouldn't be feeling any nervous jitters or small flutters in her stomach; she should just act normal.

"Hey," Lucas broke the silence first.

"Hi," Maya said stiffly.

"Where's Riley?" Lucas asked uncomfortably, shoving his hands in his pockets and eyeing everything in the room but the blonde. Maya was doing the same thing with her gaze, but just as she was opening her mouth to sputter a response Riley saved the both of them from this deadbeat conversation.

"Lucas! You're here!" Riley came out of her room and approached the two of them in the living room, her eyes sweeping the sight before her. She checked to make sure nobody got hurt and that both of them were in one piece, Riley almost wanted to sigh in relief when she realized they hadn't started arguing yet.

Lucas smiled at her, relieved that there was somebody to save him from their current predicament. He looked behind her when Topanga made an appearance behind her daughter, "Is that little she-devil here yet?" Topanga almost growled at the thought of the short six year old who had a tight grip on her son.

"No it's just me Mrs. Matthews," Lucas waved.

"Oh thank God, I don't think I'm ready yet." Topanga wiped white powder off of her apron and clapped her hands to get rid of the coat of flour. She wheezed from the flour and headed towards the kitchen.

"My woman will be here shortly," Auggie announced from the corridor. He took a leap and jumped down from the steps, Lucas noticed how wound up Topanga was, judging by how hard she was rolling the pin on the counter.

"Can't wait," she muttered.

About thirty minutes later, almost everyone was at the Matthews' place except for Ava who Auggie was impatiently waiting for her by the edge of the couch, keeping his eyes on the door like a hawk. Lucas was chatting up a storm with Zay, Riley, and Farkle while Maya was helping Topanga out in the kitchen.

"I'm all good here honey, why don't you go talk to your friends?"

"I'm fine here," Maya dried the last plate from the sink and placed it in the rack to dry.

"Why are you here cleaning when you should be having fun at the party?" Topanga wiped a bead of sweat rolling off her forehead. Maya just shrugged her shoulders but glanced at the group forlornly, they were obviously enjoying themselves without her presence. It was like they barely noticed or cared that she wasn't there, it stung a little but she didn't say anything otherwise, however Topanga wasn't fooled; she could see the sad gleam in her eyes.

The door flung open without any pretense, causing everyone to turn around at the sight of an overly confident seven year old. "I'm here Auggie," she said regally as if she was the Queen of England.

Auggie ran up to her and flung an arm around her shoulder, "Yes you are," he winked, causing Topanga to stick a finger in her mouth. She didn't bother to hide the loud groan that escaped her lips, she narrowed her eyes and glared at Ava.

"My cousin's on her way right now," Ava looked at the arm wrapped around her and gave him a pointed look.

"Great!"

"What?!" Auggie and Topanga said at the same time. Topanga's cry of anguish overpowered Auggie's enthusiastic response. Topanga hurriedly dropped everything and stopped in front of her son.

"You didn't inform me about this," she reprimanded. "And you," her eyes darted to the mini Satan standing there batting her eyelashes coquettishly. "You can't just invite anyone you please."

"But I didn't invite her Topanga, Auggie did, right schnookums?" Ava threw in a nickname that Auggie loved to get him to stand up to his mother.

"He certainly did not! And that's Mrs. Matthews to you," she pointed her finger at Ava.

"Mom, you said I could invite anyone," he reminded her. Topanga cursed at her son's intelligence and sly tactics he learned from Ava.

"I know what I said sweetie but…" she stopped when Auggie pouted and stuck his lip out, giving her his best puppy dog look. Topanga mustered up all the courage she had and took one more look at Ava, reaffirming her decision to say no. "I don't want another Morgenstern in this house, I might be able to handle one of you, but definitely not another evil clone running around the house."

"Hey! That's my cousin you're talking about here and she's not evil," Ava cut in rudely.

"That's what my son told me about you and I'm still not buying it!" Topanga snapped.

"Mom," Riley stopped mid-conversation and tugged on her mom's arm. "Can I talk to you for just a second?" Topanga made a hand motion to Ava that said she was watching her.

"Could you please ease back on the offensive?" Riley whispered harshly.

"I can't! How are you calm? We're talking about _two_ Morgensterns here Riley. Do you think you can stomach another child being related to that _thing_?" Riley turned around, sensing Ava's gaze and almost shivered at the cold, calculating look. Ava smiled and waved sweetly, knowing all too well what they were talking about.

"Mom, it's fine I can handle it. Besides her cousin will be bowling with us, so I'll keep an eye out for them while you just set up the party with dad," Riley persisted. Topanga pursed her lips and patted her back.

"Good luck, you're going to need it," Topanga said mournfully, as if she wouldn't be able to see her daughter after tonight."

While Maya was on her way out of the bathroom, she stopped at the sight of Lucas, Farkle, and Zay talking in a formidable group close to the kitchen. It seemed like they had migrated to the kitchen to pick up some refreshments from the fridge and didn't make the effort to go back to their original spot near the door. Maya almost tiptoed past the three of them until Zay saw her sneaking past them.

"Hart, it's good to see you again alive in the flesh." Maya stopped herself and turned around slowly, preparing to mask the slight feeling of panic written all over her face.

"Babineaux, can't say the feeling's mutual," Maya fought the smile gracing the corner of her lips when she saw the other cowboy.

"I didn't think you would show."

"Is that so?" Maya cocked her hip and placed a hand on her waist. "Why would you think that?"

"You've been MIA for about a week now," he said matter-of-factly, "it's depressingly quiet without you." Maya recognized the playful gleam in his eyes behind the serious expression on his face.

Maya shrugged and twiddled her thumbs together, "Really? I didn't think anybody noticed." Lucas looked away shamefully by her suggestion, knowing he was mostly the reason why she didn't hang around their group anymore.

"Of course we noticed, we missed you," Zay looked at the cowboy to his left pointedly, _especially Mr. Mopy Friar pants._

"I never thought I'd ever hear those words from your mouth," Maya heard Zay's response but wasn't looking at the brown skinned Texan at all. For some reason she was eyeing Lucas, waiting for some sort of reaction from him. Maya wanted to see some sort of shame and regret in those green eyes but his expression revealed nothing at all, and for some reason it aggravated her to no end. _Was he just going to stand there and act like I don't exist?_

"Which words? The part where I said we miss you or the part where I said we're going to beat your ass in bowling?" This got Maya's attention. She snapped her blue gaze to Zay, slightly puffing her chest and pursing her lips, ready to shoot down the bemused cowboy.

"And who says that I'm not going to kick your ass all the way back to your ranch?" Zay tipped an imaginary hat at her like Lucas did all those years ago, it made her want to barf at the cheesy gesture that Lucas tainted.

Lucas snorted.

Everyone slowly turned their heads towards Lucas, not even realizing what he just started, Lucas stared back at everyone blankly. Maya didn't like the sneer dancing across his chapped lips, she wanted to chuck back the sleeves on her shirt and get ready to pack a punch at his stupid face. "Is something funny here, Huckleberry?" she asked a little too calmly.

Lucas knew he should just let this silly smack talk go before it escalated into a neck-to neck fight, but his pride couldn't take it. "Yeah I find it funny that you think you can beat me and the boys at bowling. You're so small, I doubt you could even hold the ball with one hand." Maya could smell a threat a mile away and her sixth sense was ringing all the bells in her sub consciousness. Maya didn't run away when there was a challenge, she liked to face it head on. Maybe it was the Hart or the New Yorker blood in her, but it told her to take out all the weapons and fire with her best shot.

"Some smack talk you've got there Old Yeller. But you don't convince me one bit. If you think you can beat _me,_ one of the best bowlers here in the tri-state area, then you've got it coming to you Huckleberry. Prepare for you and your friends to get your asses handed to you."

"Bring it on." Zay had to physically step in between the two steaming fire engines. They were almost nose to nose, glaring at each other that almost made it seem like one of them was giving the other a come hither look. Well for Maya she did have a come hither look but it wasn't playful, it was deadly, like a snake beckoning for its prey to come closer only to be strangled to death. Zay could tell Maya was itching to wrap her hands around his throat.

Just when the two were about to launch in a full out war with only Zay standing in the way like a slip of paper, a tall, leggy blonde walked into the open apartment. The girl looked mildly intimidated, like a fawn lost in a middle of a freeway, she lightly treaded her way into the swarm of people. "Excuse me?" she asked a little timidly.

They threw the girl a quick glance and almost went back to their talk until they noticed she was literally a spitting image of a Sports Illustrated model. She didn't look like she belonged at this party at all; it almost made Maya want to laugh until she saw all the looks the boys were throwing at the new blonde beauty. Zay's eyes were practically bulging out of his sockets, Farkle determinedly stared at the girl's shoulder trying to not sweep his gaze over her like she was a meal, while Lucas's jaw was a little unhinged. Out of all of them Lucas was definitely the most composed, but it didn't stop Maya from feeling a little unnerved. Strange sensations were fluttering beneath the pit of her stomach when she saw that Lucas' attention was focused on another blonde who wasn't her.

"Are you lost?" Maya asked incredulously, apparently she was the only person who still had a voice. Maya crossed her arms and assumed this girl was just lost on her way to a Vanity Fair party.

The girl shook her head but smiled, "No unless this isn't Auggie Matthews' apartment?" Maya frowned, feeling bewildered by this girl's presence.

Maya still nodded her head in affirmative, "It is. Who's asking?"

The girl visibly relaxed, "good then I'm at the right place. Hi, I'm Sophie," she stuck her hand out for Maya to shake. Maya just stared at her hand like it was a foreign object, confuddled by her way of introducing herself like they were at some formal event.

Before Maya was about to shake the offered hand, a small bundle of blonde energy stumbled into their intimate group and took the wind out of Sophie's stick thin body. "Sophie! You're here!" Sophie knelt down and embraced Ava. Movement just stopped everywhere in the room, everyone was observing the weird yet heartfelt scene before them. Ava unwrapped her arms from the blonde model and tugged her hand, "Guys I present to you my cousin. Sophie Morgenstern!" Ava's toothy smile splayed out on her face was the exact opposite expression Maya was wearing. Her lips were ironed into her face in a grimace, not exactly giddy upon the realization that this tall, gorgeous, blonde model was Ava's cousin. Now Maya wished her cousin was another evil six year old, not a Goddess who held all of the boy's attention.

Zay pointed a finger towards Miss Universe, "Wait hold on a minute. That's _your_ cousin?" Ava nodded. All the boys were gawking at her, no doubt having some interesting thoughts racing through their heads from all the hormones.

"She's totally hot! How come you didn't mention your cousin was stunning?" Zay bursted out loud, unable to contain his thoughts. Everyone shot him a glare, including Ava who didn't look the slightest bit amused. "Sorry," Zay grumbled. "Someone had to say it!" Zay raised his hands up in mock surrender, taking a quick gulp out of his bottle of root beer. Lucas just set down his orange creamsicle drink and quirked a half smile at Sophie, turning on his soft charm.

"Sorry about my friend, he doesn't have a filter. Hi Sophie, I'm Lucas. Lucas Friar," he stuck his hand out and shook her hand, but kept his grip for a little longer than what was accepted.

Maya coughed and got the girl's attention, wanting to break off their all too friendly greeting. "And I'm Maya." She just looked at Lucas coyly when he gave her an irritated look, obviously not pleased that his introduction was cut short. The girl smiled at her and Maya just returned a tight-lipped one of her own, eyeing Lucas' expression when he stared at the back of the girl's head.

"It's nice to meet you guys," she chuckled nervously. She turned towards Lucas, forgetting about the other short blonde standing in between the pair. "Is that an accent?" Sophie asked curiously.

Lucas smiled and nodded politely, "yes it is. It's actually a Texas accent to be more precise. I'm originally from Austin." Sophie smiled widely, tucking a blonde strand behind her ear earnestly. Maya couldn't believe this chick was actually excited to hear that she was talking to a cowboy.

"Yeah this Heehaw's all the way from the ole' wild west. There's nothing really exciting about him anyway, he's just a Huckleberry," Sophie spared a glance at Lucas who had his jaw set tightly in a seemingly quiet and aggravated manner. Maya tried to curb the girl's interest in the cowboy but realized it only made her confused.

"Huckleberry?" Sophie asked, a little confused. Maya rolled her eyes, feeling exasperated that she obviously didn't understand the country reference and a little annoyed that nobody was chuckling along with her joke.

"Don't mind her, she just likes to put me down because of where I come from," Lucas almost sneered out.

Sophie placed a hand on his arm lightly, trying to provide him little comfort, "it's okay, I think Texas is really cool, I've always wanted to go."

"Really?" Lucas asked brightly, a glint of excitement taking over the hostile gleam in his eyes when he looked at Maya. "Have you've ever heard mutton-busting?"

Sophie shook her head, "No but I would love it if you told me more about it," she said encouragingly.

"Mind if I walk with you to the bowling alley?" Lucas scratched his head nervously, a gesture that Maya thought was only privy to her. Maya slumped her shoulders in defeat when Sophie beamed her flashy, pearly whites like she was in a Marie Claire editorial as acceptance to his invitation. He held out his arm to her chivalrously and she took it, making their way to the front of the door. Lucas took his coat off the hanger and handed Sophie's jacket to her all gentlemanlike, walking out of the apartment without so much as sparing her a second glance. Maya's anger flared when she saw Sophie touch his arm like that, for some undeniable reason it made her want to tear off the girl's arm. She didn't know why she felt hurt when he walked away from her, acting like she didn't mean anything to him at all; it made all of those moments they've had together seem meaningless.

* * *

 **A/N: Review my lovelies!**

 **Asolove: if you're reading this I just wanted to give you a personal shout out. You're absolutely wonderful my precious, I loved reading your review and by far it's my favorite. I'm not expecting every single person to review regularly when I update but it would be so lovely to read more of your reviews, it really made me sit down and finish this chapter for you. Honestly I just wish I could give you a hug!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys I'm back again after a long period of silence. I know it's been a while since I've updated this and I can't believe how much time has gone by. First and foremost I want to apologize for my absence, really the only excuse I have is school. College really consumes most of my time that I haven't got much time to write at all, I don't want you to think I've abandoned this story. Secondly, I had a huge writer's block on this story so I had no idea where this was going and I lost the motivation to continue for a little bit. My third point, I'm going to try my best to update more frequently from now on because you guys are really supportive and eager to see this story finish :)**

 *****Check out my long one-shot Lucaya story: _The Space Between Stars_. Please check it out!*****

* * *

Maya slammed the door to her apartment and slid the lock in tight. She leaned her head against the door and tried to calmly breathe in and out to keep her anger at bay.

"Maya open the door!" A loud banging came from the other side of the door from Huckleberry himself.

Just when she thought she could get some peace at home Lucas had to show up at her door.

"What makes you think I'm going to let you in?" She spewed from her side of the door.

"We weren't finished talking!"

"Oh were we talking? Correct me if I'm wrong Lucas, but a conversation includes both parties participating, you were just lecturing me the entire time!"

"Because you friggin' smashed Auggie's birthday cake on Sophie and ruined the entire evening!" Lucas had both hands on the door hoping he could use his strength to open the door but it was no use.

Maya grit her teeth, "I didn't ruin anything; the party was already ruined by your mushy PDA with that leggy blonde model."

Lucas pounded on the door but stopped for a second by her accusation. "What the hell are you talking about? I didn't do anything with Sophie."

Maya scoffed, "Oh please everyone could see that you were all over each other. Don't act dumb."

"Are you delusional?" Lucas didn't hear any response from the other side and was angry when he thought that she had probably walked away. "I rather you let your misguided anger out on me than a poor innocent girl."

"Maya, I'm serious open the door before I kick it down," he threatened. Maya rolled her eyes at his meaningless threat. She suddenly had an idea and went to the kitchen to grab something from the fridge.

"You really won't give up won't you?" Maya asked quietly but Lucas' ears perked up when he heard her voice.

"No I won't, I'm not going to walk away without an explanation this time," he said matter-of-factly.

"I guess you're right. I shouldn't have smeared cake all over Sophie, she doesn't deserve it," she said with resign while she unlocked the door and opened it to see his stocky figure standing right in front of her wearing a somewhat hopeful expression. He crossed the threshold and took a couple of steps into the apartment before she caught him by surprise.

"You do," Maya said coyly and a confused look passed over his golden features before she pulled a slice of cake her mom brought back from Topanga's the other day out from behind her back.

She tilted the plate upwards before she aimed it at his face. Lucas saw the cake and realized it was a little late for him to dodge the dessert, but his fast reflexes allowed him to blindly barrel forward into the tiny blonde's body.

The cake covered his eyes and suddenly he tripped over a carpet, causing him to stumble into Maya. He couldn't see much and desperately tried to grasp onto anything that'll break his fall. Maya tried to back away and untangle herself from his strong grasp but was futile; suddenly the force of their collision caused Maya to wobble backwards before she was about to hit the floor on her ass with Lucas on top of her.

The back of her knees suddenly hit the edge of a couch and she inevitably fell onto it dragging Lucas down with her. Maya groaned when his head knocked with hers gracelessly and got cake everywhere. Lucas let out a small groan as well and rubbed his forehead, he used his sleeve to wipe away some of the frosting and looked down to see Maya trembling beneath him.

He suddenly realized that they were in a very compromising position and hastily used his arms to lever him up. Maya's blue eyes restlessly searched his face and something washed over her when her eyes met his green ones that were emitting warmth. A tingle shot through her spine and she felt a rush of euphoria hit her when she felt his weight on top of hers. This was the closest contact their bodies ever made with each other beside the night at the campfire and it made her want to caress his face and bring her lips up to his.

She was subconsciously about to wipe away the frosting away from his face but reality came crashing down on her and she hastily lowered her hand from his cheek to his chest. Lucas was confused by her quietness and felt something inside his gut twist with want when he saw her blonde curls splayed out on the couch beautifully. He wanted to crash his lips onto hers when her eyes bored into his, but was stopped when she placed both of her hands on his chest.

"Please get off," she asked quietly. He furrowed his brow in confusion by her sudden change in demeanor. Maya suddenly became irritated when he didn't get up, reminded again why they were in this situation in the first place.

"Get the hell off of me Lucas," she growled. Suddenly the tentative atmosphere changed and Lucas felt his annoyance peak again. He angrily pushed himself off of her and stood up, giving her a reluctant hand but was hurt once again when she dismissed his help and got up on her own.

"So we're back at this again aren't we?" he asked angrily.

"Back at biting each other's heads off? Yeah that's our thing so don't act surprised," she said sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes, "You won't even tell me why you're acting berserk, you just threw cake at me to get me to shut up."

"Don't act like you don't know what you did."

"That's just it! I don't why you're so angry at me, I don't know what I did."

"Yeah you do dumbass," she deflected his response.

"Would you stop with the petty name calling?" he crossed his arms and ignored her sharp glare.

"Well I'm sure as hell not gonna when you and Sophie were all over each other."

Lucas threw his hands up in bewilderment. "I wasn't all over her," he defended.

"Well maybe you weren't all over her, but she was practically drooling over you," she mumbled. "And you let her," she pointed at Lucas accusingly.

Lucas studied her defiant expression and realized why she was being on the defensive, "I can't believe it," he said to himself.

Maya furrowed her eyebrows in a cute way, "Can't believe what?"

"You're jealous." When he noticed that her shoulders tense, he knew that he had caught her.

"I am not jealous of Sophie," she scoffed to play down the anxiety building up inside of her.

"You're jealous of Sophie because I was giving her all of my attention and not you," Lucas thought back to the party and the events building up to it. "That's the only explanation as to why you were acting hostile towards her."

"Who would be jealous of spending a boring evening with a country boy?"

"Careful Maya, you're starting to sound like a jealous girlfriend."

She glared daggers at him, imagining throttling the life out of him. "Who'd want to be your girlfriend? You know what? Since you and Sophie are so perfect for each other so why don't you just ask _her_ to be your girlfriend and get married on your big old ranch back in Texas?

Mischief sparkled in his eyes and he knew he was getting close to breaking those walls again. He didn't say anything but gave her a knowing look, causing her to stamp her foot down in frustration.

"Because I don't want her to be my girlfriend, Maya. God, how many hints do I have to drop?"

"Huh?" Maya was floored by his cryptic response.

Lucas realized he let the last part slip out and started to panic. "I mean I don't like Sophie, I barely even know her. And before you ask, I'm not attracted to her either."

"I wasn't going to ask you that because I don't particularly care," she said sourly.

"Oh come on Maya, why can't you admit that you still like me despite everything that's happened between us since Texas?"

"How am I supposed to still have feelings for you when you practically walk away from me and pick fights with me?" her eyes began to water but she looked away so he couldn't see her become emotional.

"I didn't walk away from you, I just thought you needed space to sort out whatever's going on in your life. And you said it yourself, we always fight with each other; it's what we're good at." Lucas shuffled closer to her and tentatively tried to touch her shoulder before she tugged away.

"What about a couple of weeks ago when you accused me of not giving a shit about school or everyone in my life."

"I didn't really mean that," he rubbed the back of his neck in shame, regretting those harsh words he threw at her. "I'm sorry I said that, I was just really frustrated at the time because you wouldn't talk to me. And honestly I was upset that you stood me up at Topanga's when we agreed that we'd both put effort into our assignment."

"That's because you didn't let me try to explain Lucas. I didn't purposefully bail on you, I really wanted to show you that I was going to take the project seriously but something came up."

Her somber expression was enough to convince him that he made the wrong assumption too fast. "What happened Maya?"

Maya coughed awkwardly, "Uh my mom was er…sick. I had to take care of her that night, she had a fever and was kind of delirious." She looked down and twiddled her fingers to avoid looking him in the eye.

Guilt swept over him in heavily. He mentally smacked himself and felt stupid for screwing everything up. "I'm such a dick," he groaned.

Maya nodded and chuckled weakly, "yeah you are." Lucas' lips quirked up when he saw the weak smile she flashed his way. It wasn't the smile he wanted to see but it was one of the first ones she gave him in weeks.

"I guess I deserve that cake to my face for everything I've done. I'm sorry I've broke your trust, I promise I'll do anything in my power to fix it," he sighed guiltily.

Maya shook her head when she saw how torn up he was about this. She felt bad for making him feel like all of this was his fault. She walked up to him slowly and squeezed his arm in a comforting manner.

"Hey," she spoke softly, "it's not all your fault. I was wrong for shutting you out and letting my anger out on you. I know you care and at times that's hard for me to believe so my instinct is to push you away."

He looked down at her, "Why do you push me away Maya? I only want to help you because I want you to be happy."

"I know Lucas," she smiled softly and nodded, reminiscing to that day where he told the whole class he wanted her to be happy after the school wanted to pull art classes. "I just…I'm not a very trusting person after everything that's happened to me, it's better to push people away then get hurt you know? It's just my gut reaction. I'm sorry, I don't want you to think you're not important because you are to me…and well…" she trailed off shyly.

"From now on I guess I should tell you everything."

"You don't have to, Maya. I realized one of the reasons why you're pushing me away is because I was being too nosy; forcing myself into your life isn't the way I want our relationship to be built on. I don't want you to tell me something because you feel like you owe me."

"It's ok Lucas, I want to tell you because I need to get this off my chest and because I trust you." Maya walked towards the couch while she was talking and slowly sank into the battered couch. She looked up at him expectantly and patted the spot beside her.

He made his way towards her and plopped down right next to her, leaving little space between them. "I guess I should start out with why I've been hiding out in the art room avoiding everyone; especially you." Her blue eyes searched his face once again searching for something he didn't know she was looking for. She let out a deep breath and felt calm, knowing this was what she wanted to do.

"Remember when my dad showed up and we were going to have dinner?" Lucas nodded. "Well things didn't turn out the way it was supposed to. We were supposed to talk out our feelings and try to at least fix some tangible part of our relationship but he bailed because he wasn't ready to come back into my life. Basically I kicked him out and yelled at him for being a horrible father. I lied to you because I was ashamed that I didn't even try to hear him out after you told me I should be understanding. It was awful and I didn't want you to know I failed again, I really wanted to take your advice but when I saw him I got so angry I forgot all about forgiveness. I didn't want to let you down or disappoint you, so I lied about it going well. Then I tried to cover it up by forcing Riley to lie to you too and that was a shitty move on my part. And well that's only the first half of it."

Lucas took a moment to let everything sink in before speaking. "Maya you didn't have to be afraid of what I was going to think. I respect your decisions and I know it wasn't an easy feat to face your dad again so I knew you weren't going to fix everything with him right away. I have my own issues with my dad too so I know what that's like. You couldn't have possibly known he was going to bail again, I think you handled it better than I did when my dad left."

Maya shot him a surprised look, confused as to why he was being so compassionate and not angry by all of her lies. "You're not mad?"

Lucas shook his head, "Not anymore, I was frustrated with you because you wouldn't communicate with me. I guess I was mad at the time because you were running away from me and I can't take it when you disappear."

"You're right, I shouldn't have been a coward," she muttered.

"You're not a coward at all, you're one of the boldest person I know. If anyone can handle a situation like that, it's you."

Maya's face bunched up like she just sucked on a lemon, "Now you're just being sappy."

"I thought you liked my fortune cookie talk," he mocked fake hurt.

Maya laughed when she saw he still had cake all over his face. She brought her hand up and wiped it away, "I'm sorry I can't take you seriously with dessert on your forehead."

He chuckled, "Well you should see yourself, you look just as ridiculous." She smacked him playfully and then used her sleeves to get the frosting off of her cheek.

"No you missed a spot," he used his thumb to swipe a smudge of blue frosting off from the corner of her mouth. Maya froze when he touched her. Lucas paused too when he saw her eyes glance down at his mouth before licking her lips and suddenly he felt an urge to kiss her. He felt himself lean forward until Maya's phone started to blast Frank Sinatra's "You are the Sunshine of My Life" a ringtone designated for Riley.

She reluctantly pulled away and fished the phone out of her back pocket. She looked at Lucas a little fearfully at the prospect of answering the call. Lucas nudged her comfortingly and with determination she pressed answer, once she pressed the phone up to her ear she realized a little too late that picking up was a mistake.

"YOU ARE IN BIG TROUBLE MAYA PENELOPE HART!" Riley's voice bellowed out and startled Maya.

"Riles-" Maya squeezed her eyes shut to brace herself for the onslaught of lecturing.

"Don't you Riles me, Maya." Maya winced at her friend calling her by her first name and not Peaches.

"Riley!" she was losing her patience with her friend.

"How can you ruin Auggie's birthday like that and smear cake all over Ava's cousin? Whatever problems you have with Lucas you need to fix it now. The rest of us shouldn't suffer from your fight; it's selfish and immature!"

Maya pulled the phone away from her ear and she could still hear her voice loud and clear shouting from the other end of the line. Lucas beckoned her to pass the phone over and she gladly handed the offensive thing to him.

"Riley?" Lucas' gruff voice broke Riley's train of thought.

"Lucas? What are you doing on the phone?"

"Well Maya's ears are bleeding and I think she's gone deaf now."

"Lucas, this is no time to kid. I need to speak with Maya right now. I'm not done with my rant!"

"You don't need to lecture her, I already did," Lucas shot the blonde a knowing look and she rolled her eyes. "Listen Riley you don't need to worry anymore."

"Wait, if you're on the phone does that mean you're with her right now? Are you guys still out?"

"No we're at Maya's apartment."

"Are you guys alone?"

"Yes we're alone."

Suddenly Riley became fearful, "Oh no have you ripped each other's throats out? Should I come over to hold Maya back?" Images of blood flashed right before Riley's eyes.

"No you don't have to everything's worked out now," Lucas gave Maya a small smile.

"So you're not at each other's throats anymore?" Riley asked dubiously.

"Nope I hope not."

"Lucas put Maya on the phone for confirmation." He handed the phone to her wordlessly and Maya gave him a strange look.

"Hello?" Maya asked hesitantly.

"Was Lucas lying when he said you guys made up?" Riley asked curtly.

Maya frowned at the slight edge to her tone, "No he wasn't."

"Good, I'll see you on Monday. Don't think I'm done making my point." Maya was about to speak until she heard the line cut off abruptly.

Maya groaned and threw her phone beside her. "She's pissed at me."

She leaned over and covered her face with her hands. "Well maybe you shouldn't have thrown cake at everyone," Lucas suggested.

She looked up at him and shot him a glare. "I don't need anymore reminders, thank you. I already admitted that I screwed up."

"Not to mention that you also admitted that you were jealous."

"What? I didn't admit to that!" Maya's face heated up and her neck burned red with embarrassment. "Can you just take you and your inflated ego out of my apartment already?"

Lucas tipped his imaginary hat and winked, "My pleasure Ma'am." Maya bit her lip to hold in her smile. He got up from the couch and made his way to the door.

"Are you going to see me out?"

Maya rolled her eyes, "I'm watching you leave Huckleberry so technically I'm seeing you out." Lucas laughed and was glad that they were back to their normal witty banter. He didn't realize how much he missed this until now.

Lucas stood rooted to his spot until Maya got up and huffed in his direction. "You're such a baby. Do you need me to hold your hand?"

"Yeah that and a goodnight kiss."

"In your wildest dreams Sundance," she flung open the door and placed both hands behind his back to push him out. Once he was standing on the other side of the threshold Maya closed the door but was surprised when he stuck his hand out.

"That's it?" Lucas asked expectantly.

"You're not getting a kiss Heehaw if that's what you're waiting for." He smiled and placed a hand on the wall so he could lean down.

Once he caught her eye she didn't move an inch. "I just need verbal confirmation on something that's all," he said nonchalantly. She tilted her chin up to get him to continue.

"Are your feelings for me the same as they were in Texas?" Lucas grew bashful and Maya noticed that he scratches his head when he gets nervous.

"It's late Lucas, maybe we should save this for another day," Maya stalled and felt a little anxious at his bluntness.

"I'm not leaving until you answer my question," he said firmly. Maya quirked her head to the side and studied him, figuring he wasn't going to leave until he got an answer. She remembered when he said that to get her to talk so many times before and all those times when she crumbled under his steady gaze. She somehow knew that he was going to ask her this so she wasn't surprised by the question but she had never thought what her response would be.

"Too bad Ranger Rick, maybe you should try again when we're both not covered in cake."

If she gave in and folded her cards then he would be the main player in their high stake game. She should be terrified of the idea but for some reason she wasn't as scared as she thought she'd be. Part of her wanted to fight it but the other part was saying, "Fuck it".

Lucas crossed his arms as a ruse to cover up how disappointed he was. He knew it was too soon to ask her this once they made up but his feelings for her were growing quickly and he needed something to keep him anchored before he floated away.

"I don't mean to push you away, I'm sorry…you know what? Just forget I said anything," Lucas turned away solemnly and his happiness deflated when he realized she most likely got over him because of everything that's happened between them.

Maya reached out and boldly grabbed his hand, "Lucas wait." Her voice was soft and coaxing, catching him by surprise. Her eyes seemed sad until he squeezed her hand tighter as a sign that he was alright.

"What happened to all that annoying confidence? I've never seen you shut down before." Maya bit her lip anxiously.

"I don't want you to push me away for me asking. I just wanted to know."

"I'm not going to push you away, you bozo," she rolled her eyes playfully. "Gosh we have one serious talk about us and now you're afraid of me. Listen to me Ranger Rick, don't stop butting into my business, you're good at it and I don't want that annoying habit to change," she said mockingly.

Lucas chuckled at her antics, she had unusual ways of telling people she cared about them, but nevertheless it still managed to build his confidence back up.

"You're right, I'm not afraid of you Shortstack. You're not even that tall." She stuck her tongue out at him and suddenly the awkwardness went away.

"Goodnight Shortstack." He smiled and tipped his hat one last time for the night.

When he was about to turn around the corner Maya finally had the guts to say what was one her mind.

"Lucas," her voice stopped him in his tracks and he looked at her. "If I didn't have feelings for you, why would I go through the trouble of smearing birthday cake all over Sophie?" Her eyes sparkled with mirth as she shut the door.

Lucas stood rooted to his spot for a long minute. He stared at her door longingly until he chuckled to himself and practically skipped back home.

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